The 10 articles in this theme issue provide 1989 prespectives on several library service developments in New York State and on the work that preceded them: (1) "Library Systems in New York State: Opportunity for Greater Service" (Statement by the Board of Regents, September 1989); (2) "King Research Report Evaluates New York's Library Systems" (reprint from Library Journal, September, 1989); (3) "Archives, Politics, and the Public" (William B. Hoyt); (4) "The New York State Oral History Project" (Shawn Purcell); (5) "Public Library Statistics: Things Are Definitely Looking Up" (Mary Jo Lynch); (6) "The Story of the New Netherland Project" (Nancy Zeller and Peter Christoph); (7) "Statewide Automation in New York: 1985-1989" (Frederick E. Smith); (8) "Improving Access to Government Information: The New York State Document Depository Program" (Mary Redmond); (9) "The Federal Library Services and Construction Act Program Report, FY 1988"; and (10) "Regents Advisory Council on Libraries' Report to the Board of Regents Cultural Education Committee May 18, 1989." In memoriam tributes to John A. Humphrey, who was State Librarian from 1967 to 1977, and Gretchen K. Schenk, an internationally recognized consultant on library extension services, are also included. (SD)