Undertaken at the request of the Ad Hoc Statewide Automation Committee, this report provides a common understanding for Maine librarians of current library networking and how it might apply to Maine. The current status of Maine libraries and their cooperative and automation activities is summarized; resource-sharing in other states is examined; and the development of a plan for resource-sharing in Maine is discussed, including alternatives for the implementation of retrospective conversion procedures. A description of the recommended statewide network includes plans for a star network with five separate but linked automated systems, or nodes, located throughout the state, each of which would be a minicomputer-based automation center with a regional or interest-group center, and each of which would have a transparent interface with the other nodes. Discussions also include the current status and future needs for microcomputers in libraries, online reference searching, and serials and document delivery. Finally, short- and long-term priorities for the development of the network are enumerated, and plans for the future are considered. The text is supplemented with 13 figures; and appendices include (1) a discussion of the selection process that Maine should follow to improve the probability that the system(s) will meet library needs, and (2) a listing of library users of small computers in Maine. (KM)