The Sylvan Lake Municipal Library is adding a new tool on July 20, 2026, that will let cardholders compare how the same news story is covered by different media outlets and see ratings for bias and reliability, all at no cost through the Libby app.
Ground News, a Canadian platform that pulls together news from more than 50,000 sources, will appear under the “Extras” section in Libby. Using a library card, residents can quickly see how headlines tilt across the political spectrum, spot media bias, and check factuality ratings drawn from three independent monitoring groups.
The platform compares coverage side by side and gives each source a bias and factuality score. The ratings come from AllSides, Ad Fontes Media, and Media Bias/Fact Check, giving readers a broader picture of how news is presented. Ground News was founded in Ontario in 2018 by former NASA engineer Harleen Kaur and award-winning app developer Sukh Singh and now processes nearly 60,000 articles daily.
The library moved to free memberships in 2025 for residents of Sylvan Lake, Red Deer County, and nearby summer villages. A community survey earlier this year found digital literacy ranked as a top priority, and 89 percent of respondents said the library helps them feel connected to Sylvan Lake, a community of about 17,000 people in central Alberta.
The Sylvan Lake Municipal Library belongs to the Parkland Regional Library System, Alberta’s first regional library network, founded in 1959. The new Ground News offering expands the library’s digital collection, which is already available around the clock through Libby.
