The New York Times -- for a fee, or for free?

If you've been keeping up with the New York Times through their website instead of as a newspaper, you've probably come across their announcement that they will no longer allow their online audience to read an unlimited number of articles for free. This could put a dent in your plan to save money while you stay informed with "all the news that's fit to print" on the web.

(Just a thought -- is the news still printed if it appears online?) But as a Stratford library card holder, you have other options. The Library has an electronic subscription to the New York Times with no limits on how often you can use it -- so that's available to you 24/7. There is no limit to how often a library user can read the entire newspaper (and the archive back to 1985) for free through our electronic subscription. Here's the step-by-step.

1) Go to the library's website, http://www.stratfordlibrary.org/.

2) Click on "Get it online with your library card"

3) Then click on "Search by subject" tab.

4) Choose "Current events and News."

5) Choose the New York Times -- or one of the other newspapers we subscribe to in that list, including the Christian Science Monitor or the Times of London.

6) You will be taken to the statewide iConn website, where you will enter the number on the back of your library card under the barcode. This logs you into the New York Times, provided by a service called InfoTrac.

So take advantage of your status as a library card holder, and read the New York Times online to your heart's content.