Methuen news – starting in 1883 – is just a click away!

With just a few clicks, you can access stories online that were previously published in a pair of Methuen newspapers – including one that covered the city as far back as 1883.

Nevins Memorial Library is providing digital access to copies of the historic Methuen Transcript, from 1883 to 1961, and most copies of the monthly MethuenLife as part of a digitization project.

It’s a resource that surely makes people happy everywhere – whether they are conducting genealogical research, looking to read about a historic event or want to see the name and photo of a relative or friend.

And the library, which began its efforts to covert microfilm copies of newspapers to digital format approximately two years ago, plans to add five more previously published local newspapers online later this year.

“I’m really excited about this,” said Nevins Memorial Library Director Krista McLeod. “I think it’s important to preserve access to newspapers because they tell the story of our community. In our society, unfortunately, there is so much communication now that we’re going to end up losing a lot of this ephemeral information. I think it’s something that’s really important for the future, the future of local history. It’s really important that we provide (public) access.”

The newspapers and other resources can be accessed at the Digital Archives of the Nevins Memorial Library (nevins.historyarchives.online/home).

It is described as a collection established in partnership between the library and Advantage Archives, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, company hired to do the conversion work.

“Here we provide access to a growing collection of digitized newspapers and other resources pertaining to the history of the City of Methuen and other regional Merrimack Valley Massachusetts communities, making them available worldwide, and preserving print and microfilm resources for the future by committing them into the digital format,” the website states.

“The collection has proved very helpful for people who do not live locally, who can’t come through our doors and look at the stuff we have physically in our space,” said Daniel Allie, a Nevins reference librarian who coordinates the conversion project. “It’s a great service we are providing people nationwide and worldwide.”

According to McLeod, the newspaper project started with converting the Methuen Transcript, a publication that was heavily used by researchers.

“The actual microfilm was starting to break down. It was old, it was dried up, it was cracked,” she recalled. “So we decided that we would digitize it, and that led us to realize that we should digitize as many newspapers as we possibly can.”

“We decided we really should do MethuenLife because it does chronicle the last 25 years or so of Methuen history, and in the future it will be really important to have that,” she added.

MethuenLife Publisher Steve Whipple recalls being very pleased when Allie told him that the library would be archiving all the issues of his monthly paper, from the first issue 24 years ago this month. To date, MethuenLife from 2001 to 2023 has been archived.

“Over the years we’ve had a lot of requests for back issues or particular stories from a distant issue. We can’t always put our hands on that particular issue, so having all the issues preserved digitally is a godsend,” Whipple said. “We’re very grateful to Dan and his team at the library for undertaking this project.”

“On a side note, I’m incredibly proud of the MethuenLife staff for all their stories and photographs they’ve contributed to the MethuenLife newspaper, website and Facebook page. Having these contributions archived by the library ensures they can be appreciated forever,” he added.

According to McLeod, the newspapers being sent out now for conversion from microfilm to digital format are Methuen News (1972 to 1981), Methuen Weekly Journal (1940-1941), Methuen Weekly News (1961 to 1967), The Iris (1833 to 1834) and Methuen Falls Gazette (1835 to 1840).

She expects this batch to be ready to go on the website by late spring or early summer.

Users of the website can search for people, places and events during a particular period of time that they type in on the site.

“People want to see that. If you live in California and you’re doing genealogy, you want to be able to do that online now,” McLeod said. “Even if you live in Methuen, you really want to be able to access those materials online. The only people who are going to give you access, the only institution that is going to give you access, to these historical materials is going to be the library basically.”

The online newspaper collection will be linked to an online local history center that is going to be established. The Methuen Historical Commission received a $200,000 federal grant to do a major digitization project that will include historical records, materials and photographs.