Coplay Public Library recently received access to five online databases that are available to patrons.

The databases include Morning Call Archives, Pronunciator, NoveList Plus, Brainfuse: Help Now/Learn Now and Ancestry.com/Heritage Quest.

The Morning Call database includes archives from 1984 to present.

Pronunciator is a language database that includes about 80 different languages.

NoveList Plus is a database for those interested in reading. Recommendations, reviews, articles and lists are just a few features of this resource.

Brainfuse is a homework help database that actually has tutors available every day, from 2 to 11 p.m. EST.

Ancestry.com/Heritage Quest is a genealogy database for patrons to research their family history. This database has been particularly popular among library staff, Coplay Public Library Director Sharon Dougherty said.

"We're expecting that to be huge among patrons too," she said. "If one researches genealogy from one's home, there is a cost. By using the library's database, it's free. They are not charged."

Dougherty has done research on her own family history for about 30 years. Recently, she was able to trace her genealogy to a very famous figure.

"I was able to trace mine back to William the Conqueror. I was very excited about that," she said.

"The Allentown district, which is comprised of the 12 public libraries in Lehigh and Carbon counties, gets a separate pot of money from the state every year to spend on services that benefit all of the district libraries," District Consultant Librarian Mark Sullivan added. "The goal is to give smaller libraries access to resources that they might not be able to afford on their own and to free up money in each library's budget by centralizing services and taking advantage of group subscription pricing."

Sullivan also said the cost of the five databases is $55,886 for the fiscal year.

"That total probably would have been at least 30 percent more had each library subscribed on their own," Sullivan told The Press.

Dougherty said the county libraries told Sullivan what they were interested in.

"[Sullivan] went out and researched it," Dougherty said. "He got facts and figures on the databases and brought it back to us. Eventually, we voted on the ones we wanted."

With technology playing a prominent role in society today, Dougherty feels the purchase of these databases is very important.

"They're the future," she said. "I mean the computers, Nooks, Kindles, e-books and e-magazines. It's a natural progression."

Whitehall Township Public Library, one of the Lehigh County libraries, also has these online databases for patron use.