New York State's Reference and Research Library Resources Councils

Ensuring that all New Yorkers get the information they need regardless of where they live, work or go to school.

What is a Reference and Research Library Resources Council?

New York State's 9 reference and research library resources councils (3Rs) are State-funded regional library systems chartered by the New York State Board of Regents and designated to support improved access to information for the people of New York through resource sharing among 23 public library systems, 41 school library systems and over 900 academic, hospital, law, business, large public and special libraries.

Reference and research library resources councils provide electronic database access, interlibrary loan, delivery, database development, reciprocal access, professional development and training and other services to meet the reference and information needs of library users of all ages, including students and faculty of institutions of higher education, the professions, and others. The reference and research library resources councils also coordinate and administer State Aid programs such as the Hospital Library Services Program, the Medical Information Services Program, the Coordinated Collection Development Program for Academic Libraries, and the Regional Bibliographic Databases and Interlibrary Resources Sharing Program for all types of libraries and library systems.

Reference and Research Library Resources Councils Provide

Reference and research library resources councils provide a wide range of direct support services, including:

Support for the latest technologies, including the New York Online Virtual Electronic Library (NOVELNY), full-text electronic journals, newspapers and e-books, digitization, Internet access, listservs, websites, locator tools, equipment and software.
Interlibrary loan, document delivery services, reciprocal borrowing cards and other resource sharing services.
Special library research services for small rural hospital libraries to ensure access to major research collections.
Staff expertise in areas such as medical information, advanced technology, collection development, management, reference services and information literacy.
Programs of professional development and training for library staff and trustees on site, online and through video conferencing (such as digitization, evaluation and assessment, and database searching).
Coordination of state funding programs for academic collections, hospital services, regional resource sharing and documentary heritage.
Working with the New York State Library to develop NOVELNY.
Coordinating the statewide Documentary Heritage Program in cooperation with the New York State Archives.
Cooperative grants administration, consulting and grant writing assistance.
Marketing, advocacy and public relations services.
Web sites for the council and member libraries.

Facts about Reference and Research Library Resources Councils

Serve over 19 million people statewide.
Serve more than 900 academic, hospital, law and business, and other special libraries.
Serve 23 public library systems with 755 public libraries.
Serve 41 school library systems with 3,103 school library media centers.
Facilitate more than 640,000 interlibrary loan and resource sharing requests annually.
Distribute grants to all types of libraries.
Offer free access to NOVELNY and hundreds of other electronic information databases (full text of newspapers, journals, etc.), and e-books.
Provide professional development and training opportunities for library staff and trustees.
Connect with the New York State Library, public library systems, school library systems and academic and special libraries for regional access to specialized resources.
Libraries are a $1.6 billion industry in New York generating another $3 billion in economic activity

Background Information on Reference and Research Library Resources Councils

In 1966, the New York State Legislature authorized the establishment of reference and research library resources councils in Education Law. Governance and function are established in the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. Each reference and research library resources council is governed by a board of trustees and has a variety of advisory committees to help carry out its work.

The State created reference and research library resources councils to expand the availability of the resources of academic, medical, law, business and special libraries to more New Yorkers and to enable libraries of all types to buy services and share resources cooperatively in order to strengthen programs and services.

All nine of the reference and research library resources councils are supported by a combination of State Aid to libraries and membership dues. Councils qualify for aid based on an approved five-year plan of service, annual budgets and reports.