The economic implications of new technology in public libraries include its cost, the trade-off between costs and benefits, and sources of funds. The cost of, for example, a new terminal, should be subdivided into components and activities so that library expenditures and some resultant output can be clearly identified. In addition, when evaluating the costs and benefits of the acquisition of a terminal, it may be desirable not only to measure performance in terms of quality or quantities produced at that level of the system, but also to determine the effects that components, activities, products or services, functions, or the library have at higher levels. Costs and benefits are then expressed as input expenditures and output results in terms of performance, effectiveness, and higher order effects. Librarians often have to find alternative sources of funds for library technology, such as user charges. Factors to consider when instituting user charges include their effect on use of library services, the type of users served, the level of cost involved, the presence of alternative means of information retrieval, and the role of the library in society. This paper also briefly looks at the growth in the employment of librarians and other factors affecting the future of libraries and the information profession. Twenty-three references are listed. (ESR)