Libraries offer Missourians of all ages educational and cultural opportunities unsurpassed by any other governmental institution or community agency. Missourians value their libraries, as demonstrated by high usage, approval of library tax levies across the state, and increased demand for library services. This plan provides direction for the growth and improvement of Missouri libraries into the 21st century. It emphasizes information access, resource sharing, electronic linkages, cooperative activities, specialized services, and expert staff. It also addresses funding and leadership that will be required to maintain complex library operations. The Missouri State Library gathered information from the library community and general public through public forums, "Talk Sessions," surveys, and meetings with association and organization members. This report is organized around a travel theme, with maps and routes of goals to work toward. The report includes the following sections: Visioning for the State of Library Services in Five Years; Charting the Course for Information Access; Charting the Improvement of Current Library Services; Charting the Path Toward Cooperation between Libraries and Their Partners; Charting the Direction for Library Training; Leadership as Momentum Toward the Future; Funding to Accelerate Missouri's Library Future; and Evaluating the Plan. A profile of Missouri's demographics and its public, academic, school, and other types of libraries is appended. (Contains 28 references.) (SWC)