West Berkshire Council

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Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Find information about community support and our services during the coronavirus pandemic, on our information for residents pages, our information for businesses pages, and our community support hub page which has guidance to help coordinate community organisations.

See a summary of our Local Outbreak Control Plan and read our frequently asked questions. 

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Family History and Newspaper Archives

Study family and local history with our genealogy and historical newspaper resources

  • Ancestry Library Edition - the leading online resource for family history research (normally available only from computers and mobile devices within a West Berkshire library). 
  • PLEASE NOTE: while our libraries have limited opening times during the coronavirus pandemic, West Berkshire Libraries members can access this resource remotely via our library catalogue. You will need to use your library card number and PIN. If you are unsure about how to do this or if you would like any assistance in using Ancestry, please email us: library@westberks.gov.uk.
  • British Newspaper Archive - millions of pages of historical newspapers from the British Library collection. (You will need to create an account on the site itself and you will then have unlimited credits from computers and mobile devices within any West Berkshire library.)