Have a question about what you're seeing? Hoping for some additional context?
The Washington State Library subscribes to about 125 daily and weekly newspapers throughout Washington, plus a few out-of-state papers. A handful of the subscriptions are available for browsing in the reading room, others can be requested at the reference desk, and they will be brought to the reading room. The print newspapers are kept until they are preserved on microfilm.
Search our online catalog to find out which papers we have and for what years.
We also have an interactive map where you can search our online catalog for all of the newspapers we have by county.
Print newspapers are available for in-library use only. View our hours and directions.
Yes, Microfilm!
Microfilm is the preservation standard for newspapers. In our library we have over 50,000 reels of microfilm. The microfilm contains millions of pages of newspapers. The microfilm covers Washington state newspapers dating from the 1850s to present.
You can view the microfilm in the library with one of our four microfilm readers. View our hours and directions.
In our library you can print an article, save an article to a USB jump drive, or email an article to yourself from the microfilm reader.
If you are unable to visit us in the library to view the microfilm, you are not out of luck. Most of our microfilm is available through interlibrary loan (ILL). If your local library has a microfilm reader, you can request the material. Libraries may submit unlimited requests, but the lending of newspapers on microfilm is limited to ten reels per customer per library. Microfilm is loaned for in-library use only. Please contact your local library to verify they have a microfilm reader and to initiate your request.
You can find newspapers for your research in a number of ways.
Search our online catalog to find out which papers we have and for what years.
We also have an interactive map on which you can search our online catalog for all of the newspapers we have in a county.
In our reading room we have a notebook that lists newspapers on microfilm by city the paper was published in.
A printed union list to newspapers on microfilm is available in many Washington libraries. The title is Washington State Union List of Newspapers on Microfilm. Edited by Gayle L. Palmer. (Olympia: Washington State Library, 1991). This list provides information about Washington newspapers, gives dates of microfilm available, and lists Washington libraries that hold copies of the microfilm.
The Library of Congress has an online Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries. This directory is a searchable index of the newspapers published in the United States since 1690. The directory includes the Washington newspapers. The directory includes information about the newspapers and lists the libraries that hold copies of the newspapers (usually in microfilm format).