"ProQuest continues to expand its newspaper offerings so that libraries can meet the needs of nearly any patron. Newspapers connect people to the world around them; to historical events; and to what is happening at home, wherever that may be," said Rod Gauvin, senior vice president of ProQuest Information and Learning. "Our growing relationship with MediaNews is important because of the exceptional local content it brings to ProQuest."

The new agreement covers newspapers in California, Pennsylvania, and New England, including the Long Beach (CA) Press-Telegram, Pasadena (CA) Star-News, San Bernardino (CA) Sun,Lebanon (PA) Daily News, Lowell (MA) Sun, Bennington (VT) Banner and Bridgeport Connecticut Post. Each of the newspapers has a strong local news focus.

Providing more local content is part of ProQuest strategy to create a total newspaper solution for libraries. The company's vast news content pool includes 12 million digital pages of historical archives of major U.S. dailies. Its extensive current collection includes more than 400 full-text newspapers from around the world – 100 of which have been added in the past year. ProQuest's newspaper solutions also include such unique delivery systems as NewspaperDirect, which allows libraries to get direct access to over 250 international and domestic dailies in full-page format.

To learn more about ProQuest's newspaper and other products, visit on the Web at www.proquest.com or call 1-800-521-0600.

ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and publishing information worldwide for researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. Known widely for its strength in business and economics, general reference, humanities, social sciences, and STM content, the company develops premium databases comprising periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books, and other scholarly information from more than 8,500 publishers worldwide.  Users access the information through the ProQuest® Web-based online information system, Chadwyck-Healey^TM electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, eLibrary®, SIRS® and Voyager Expanded Learning educational resources, and XanEdu® online faculty and student resources.  For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.

ProQuest Information and Learning is a business unit of ProQuest Company (www.proquestcompany.com), which was recently named one of the top 100 fastest growing technology companies in the United Statesby Business 2.0 and one of the 200 best small companies by Forbes Magazine.