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The Presidential Library is a historic system of libraries, archives, and museums designed to collect and preserve artifacts and documents related to US presidents so the American public can study and enjoy them. In the early history of the United States, presidential documentation and artifacts were assumed to belong to the president and often freely distributed when the president left office. This allowed valuable historical artifacts to pass into the hands of private collections and historical organizations or be lost or destroyed.

MasterFILE Complete offers the most comprehensive collection of popular full-text magazines, reference books, and other highly-regarded sources from the world's leading publishers. Designed as a resource for libraries, MasterFILE’s collection of full-text periodicals covers an extensive range of subject areas, including business, health, education, fitness, sports and leisure, personal finance, general science, multicultural issues, DIY, fashion, and many others. In addition to more than 2,300 full-text magazines and journals, the collection also includes more than 77,000 videos from the Associate Press, millions of photographs, maps, and flags, and tens of thousands of primary sources.

Public libraries in North America date back several centuries. Many early libraries were private collections of books amassed by wealthy individuals and families. Often these were bequeathed to colleges, religious orders, or communities. Others were books collected to benefit groups. As literacy rates increased through the efforts of religious groups that established schools, the desire for reading materials grew. Interest in nonreligious books, as well as newspapers and periodicals, prompted the creation of reading rooms. Some early libraries charged readers to gain access to books, but over time, the number of subscription libraries dwindled as most were opened to the public free of charge.