This examination of the problems and opportunities of system organization from the viewpoint of public libraries provides a perspective on the growth of library networks, their administration, and the pressures that opposed their development in the 1970's. It identifies the requirements for their further development, and looks at the need for new information systems and more effective marketing for the 1980's. Cooperative systems visited in the process of gathering interviews with librarians across the country are described. The report concludes with the observation that cooperative systems are libraries' best means of competing in a society dominated by large organizations because they can provide the mechanism for raising the funds necessary for adequate services. It recommends that a standard for data in information systems be developed, along with packaged software that would allow libraries to make problem-oriented systems more widely available at a lower cost. (FM)