The Center for Research Libraries’ newspaper collection contains more than 10,000 titles from most countries of the world and every state in the U.S., including over 1,800 U.S. ethnic titles and some of the earliest African American newspapers. CRL has recently added several valuable newspaper titles to this rich and varied collection, now available for scholar access:

Front-page cartoon from January 1, 1943 edition of Kavkazskii vestnik. From CRL collections.

• CRL obtained a set of Xin Wen Bao microfilm from the National Library of China through the 2011 Shared Purchase Program. Originally operated jointly by foreigners and local Chinese and published in Shanghai, Xin Wen Bao was once the most widely distributed newspaper in China. The set covers the late Qing and the entire Minguo Republic eras, and will make the current CRL holdings of the newspaper’s back files complete.
• The 2011 Shared Purchase Program also helped CRL to purchase the Lyttelton Times, one of the principal newspapers of New Zealand’s Canterbury region for 80 years. It was published from 1851 until 1929, when it became the Christchurch Times until publication ceased in 1935. CRL already holds LT from 1902 to 1906 and has a very limited representation of other New Zealand mainstream papers.
• The South Asian Microform Project (SAMP) has extended its holdings of Ceylon Times by acquiring issues from 1924 to 1930. The original Ceylon Times was founded in 1846 and published until 1874. Restarted in 1882 by the publisher, the Times of Ceylon quickly regained its former prominence, read by British officials, planters, and merchants as well as the elite of Ceylon. It was a major vehicle for international, local, and business information for the nation of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). CRL and SAMP continue to acquire reels to complete this collection, which currently spans 1863–74, 1901–30, 1941–54, and 1967–75. CRL obtained the 1941–54 reels through the 2008 Shared Purchase Program, with assistance from the University of Chicago and Columbia University. SAMP hopes to acquire Ceylon Times issues from the 1930s as funding permits.
• The Cooperative African Materials Project (CAMP) microfilmed a set of Zimbabwean newspapers collected by the Library of Congress office in Nairobi, including The Worker, Zimbabwe Standard, Business Tribune, City Observer, and others. CAMP is also microfilming a set of newspapers from Cameroon and has finished 16 titles ranging from 1997 to 2007, including Ouest Echos (Sept. 1997–Dec. 2005).