It will take that focus to close the gaps in performance. 3, Issue 2. The Commission on Library Services won't report to the Regents until June 2000 but now is the time to pay close attention to their work. A progress report comes before the Regents Cultural Education Committee this month. The Commission's task is to define a vision for the delivery of the highest quality library services to all the people of New York.
Libraries are critical to New York's educational and cultural future.
For example, libraries have been conspicuous partners in the work to close the gap in student achievement in urban schools. The library is the parent's first resource in preparing their toddlers and pre-school children to become readers, and the teacher's best partner in sustaining the habit and motivation to read. The libraries are pioneers in the use of information technology. In fact, without the local library, many families would have no access to the Internet and other computer uses. And every page of our strategic plan applies just as surely to libraries as it does to colleges, archives, schools, and vocational rehabilitation centers.