Metropolitan New York Library Council

Metropolitan New York Library Council Service Area

The Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) is a non-profit organization that provides library services throughout New York City and Westchester County. METRO's services are developed with the community input of library professionals, the organization's member libraries, a board of trustees, government representatives and other research and library operations specialists.^[1]

History

In 1964, the New York Metropolitan Reference and Research Library Agency, also known as the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO), was chartered by the New York Board of Regents as a reference and research library resources system (3Rs) under the Education Law of the State of New York "To improve reference and research library services in the New York Metropolitan Area by promoting and facilitating utilization of existing resources and by developing additional resources."^[2][3]

Today, with 250 member organizations throughout New York City and Westchester County, METRO is the largest of New York State's nine Reference and Research Library Resources Councils (NY 3Rs Association, Inc.).^[4]

Member institutions include the City University of New York Libraries, Columbia University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Mercy College, Museum of Modern Art, New York Botanical Garden, New York Public Library, New York University, Rockefeller University, Westchester Library System, Sotheby's Institute of Art, Scholastic, Inc., and UNICEF.

Overview

As a membership-based organization, METRO offers archival and library training opportunities, facilitates research and local community initiatives, supports Special Interest Groups (SIGs),^[5] and provides research, programming, and organizational tools for New York libraries, archives, and museums. It is also responsible for providing funding for internships and digitization projects^[6] to member libraries. METRO digitization grants provide member libraries with the opportunity to digitize their collections, several of which are available via the Internet Archive in METRO's collection of ebooks and texts.

METRO members reflect a wide range of special, academic, archival and public library organizations. In addition to training programs and support services, METRO also works to bring members of the New York City and Westchester County library communities together to promote ongoing exchanges of information and ideas.

Programs and sponsored projects

• Digitization Grant Program
• myMETRO Researchers
• Documentary Heritage Program (DHP): Professional development opportunities, consultative services providing collection assessments and on-site visits to assist archives in their day-to-day work, subcontracts to libraries and archives in order to “document the under-documented” by protecting and expanding access to important archival holdings reflective of the New York metropolitan area’s rich culture and history.^[7] The current Documentary Heritage Program is collocated on its Keeping Collections website.
• Hospital Library Services Program
• Queens Memory Project Website
• NYARC Documenting the Gilded Age: New York City Exhibitions at the Turn of the Century
• Wikipedia GLAM Initiative ("Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums") via Metropolitan New York Library Council

Works or publications

• Hurricane Sandy: Record, Remember, Rebuild^[8]

See also

• List of Library Associations
• List of Library Associations specific to American states

References

External links

• METRO website