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The article reports that the collections of the New York State Library in Albany will be available to all New York residents. In a six-month pilot project, all residents of New York State will now have access to the collections of the New York State Library in Albany. Previously, access was available only to state officials and employees, legislators, members of the state bar, state licensed physicians, and local government historians. With the project, announced by New York education commissioner Richard Mills, all New Yorkers 18 and older can borrow directly from the library's circulating collection, as well as getting remote access to the library's NOVEL online databases, New York's statewide virtual library. NOVEL includes a range of resources, including full-text electronic-collections of national and international newspapers and magazines. The policy addresses a 2000 New York State Regents Commission on Library Services report that outlined ten recommendations to improve library services in New York State, which included improving access to the collections of the state library.

Reports that state budget cuts in Virginia will cut into the budgets of the Library of Virginia (LOVa) and public libraries in the state. Number of agencies outside higher education that received budget cuts; Amount of the permanent reduction in the library's overall general fund appropriation due to budget cuts during the previous two years; Remarks from the LOVa; Description of how the LOVa plans to handle the reductions, including a loss of 59 positions, a cut in the materials budget, closure of reading rooms one day a week, the elimination of the Digital Library Program, and cut of the Building and Construction Grants program; State funding for local libraries.

This article presents the author's viewpoint on the mixture of politics and library management in Nashville, Tennessee. Mayor Karl Dean wants to merge the public library system with the high school library system. He attempted to do this without the input of David For, chairman of the board of education. The author thinks the goal is worthwhile but wants politics removed from the process.