The U.S. National Education Goals were enacted into federal law in 1994 as the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act." The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Texas at Austin is addressing the first of these goals, which states that by the year 2000 all children will enter school ready to learn. This paper describes the need for quality services to preschool children in order to achieve the first national education goal and identifies ways in which school and public libraries can work together to provide such services. The five dimensions that define school readiness are: physical well-being and motor development; social and emotional development; approaches toward learning; language usage; and cognition and general knowledge. The paper provides a summary report of a prototype that was developed to achieve the goal of school readiness, and then considers the prototype in light of the mission and services of school libraries, highlighting areas where cooperation between school and public libraries can further enhance the achievement of school readiness. Early childhood is a time of tremendous growth and development, and, therefore, potential. The work that libraries can do with young children, with families, with each other, and with other child advocates, can assist in maximizing that potential. (SWC)