Libraries

The fundamental business of libraries, despite the technological, demographic and societal shifts which undoubtedly will continue to be the satisfaction of the information, education and recreation needs of the citizens of Westchester County. There are many tiers of library and information service in Westchester County. Each will play its vital role to its constituents. The public libraries, the only group chartered to meet the needs of all of the community the academic libraries, whose responsibility is to meet the needs of their students and faculty the school libraries, whose responsibility is to support and supplement the curricular needs of their students and teachers and the corporate, medical and other special libraries which support the research and information needs of their specialized users, all work to provide a comprehensive, thorough and successful level of library and information service which meets the diverse needs of the citizens of Westchester County.

The means by which these various library groups will deliver their service will be substantively altered by technological change, and the specific services to be offered always will be subject to the shifting needs of their constituencies. It is in these areas that defining library will be problematic and conjectural. People will continue to depend upon libraries for meeting their information, education and recreation needs, but what the specific needs will be and how they will be met will vary at least somewhat from the kinds of library service.