Library brings New York Times to students

The New York Times is now available to all members of the MNSU Mankato campus community thanks to a subscription purchased by the Memorial Library.

According to collections librarian Nat Gustafson-Sundell there were multiple factors that led to the decision to obtain a New York Times subscription. One factor was the fact that the New York Times has the reputation for being the newspaper of record for the country.

“The New York Times has historically been the newspaper of record for the US. So it’s the newspaper historians use to go back to learn about historical events in the US,” said Gustafson-Sundell.

Another factor for obtaining a subscription according to Gustafson-Sundell included the high journalism standards the New York Times adheres to.

“The New York Times adheres to journalism standards more strictly than other newspapers,” said Gustafson-Sundell.

According to Gustafson-Sundell, the subscription also comes with many features that students and faculty will find useful.

“The New York Times subscription provides numerous special features. It includes lesson plans that are ready made for K-12 teachers or even for university professors. There’s full access to the Spanish and Chinese editions. What was really interesting for us, from the perspectives of collection development, was the enhanced multimedia experience,” Gustafson-Sundell said as well.

Gustafson-Sundell also praised The New York Times for its inclusion and presentation of statistical information.

“In particular, the New York Times is very strong for its statistical data and data visualizations. They are, along with the Wall Street Journal, the best at providing deep dive statistical information. New York Times itself tracked covid more thoroughly than any other news source,” said collections librarian Nat Gustafson-Sundell.

According to Gustafson-Sundell, the cost of the subscription comes out to about $1.00 per student per semester.

Dean of Library and Learning Christopher Corley emphasized the importance of keeping informed and using reliable news sources to do so.

“What the library has provided, what Nat has helped provide in the New York Times, that subscription to the New York Times I have on my phone, I have it on my iPad, I have it on my computer, and so I’m using our university subscription to the New York times to keep me informed of what’s is going on in the world,” said Corely.

Corley also described the ease of accessing the subscription on personal devices.

“All you have to do is in google is put in ‘MNSU library New York Times’ and you’ll find a link that just guides you to how to do it. It’s super easy. I’m 53 years now and I did it on my phone in 30 seconds,” said Corley.

Write to Jeremy Redlien at Jeremy.redlien@mnsu.edu