The Tri-State Region is home to the States of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Residents of New York City and people who live, work and/or go to School in New York State are all eligible to a Library Card from the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library.

For further information on the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Public Library, please refer to the LibGuide https://libguides.nyit.edu/NewYorkPublicLibrary 

For patrons outside of New York City that wish to you get a Library Card from their local public library they can do so, by providing a proof of residence of a particular town or city like a utility bill and a photo ID (i.e. School ID, Driver’s License or Passport).  

The Library Systems generally outside of New York City are County Based Consortiums of Individual Municipal Public Libraries that have come together to share their catalog and their lending materials with patrons across a "county(s) based" system.

Once a patron has a “local” Public Library Card they can go to any Public Library within the system and use the public computers and check out any material they wish on their library card, except Reference Books.

Some of the major Suburban Public Library Systems include: Bergen County Cooperative Library System, the Jersey City Public Library, Nassau Library System, Rockland Catskills Library System, Suffolk Cooperative Library System  and Westchester Library System.

Connecticut works different than both NY and NJ in that Public Libraries are individual entities that are not part of a cooperative county system, but do allow their materials to be checked out by anyone with a Library Card from any CT Based Public Library. Patrons in CT do not require Library Cards to access Public Computers, but may be asked for ID to obtain a Guest Pass depending on the specific CT Library. Another thing to keep in mind if material is checked out in one library in CT you can return it to another, but it is not checked back in until it arrives back at the owning library. 

Each of the three States in the NY Tri-State Region have a State Library. They are called Connecticut  State Library, New Jersey State Library and New York State Library. 

Find Your Public Library in New York State by Public Library System 

Public Library Systems in New York State

• Brooklyn (Kings County) | 
• Buffalo and Erie | 
• Chautauqua-Cattaraugus | 
• Clinton-Essex-Franklin | 
• Finger Lakes (Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, Tioga, Tompkins counties) | 
• Four County (Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego counties) | 
• Mid-Hudson (Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Putnam, Ulster [part] counties) | 
• Mid York (Herkimer, Madison, Oneida counties) | 
• Mohawk Valley (Fulton, Montgomery, Schenectady, Schoharie counties) | 
• Monroe | 
• Nassau | 
• New York (Bronx, New York, Richmond counties) | 
• Nioga (Genesee, Niagara, Orleans counties) | 
• North Country (Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, St. Lawrence counties) | 
• Onondaga | 
• Pioneer (Livingston, Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming counties) | 
• Queens | 
• Ramapo Catskill (Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster [part] counties) | 
• Southern Adirondack (Hamilton, Saratoga, Warren, Washington counties) | 
• Southern Tier (Allegany, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Yates counties) | 
• Suffolk | 
• Upper Hudson (Albany, Rensselaer counties) | 
• Westchester

Source: New York State Library. New York State Education Department 

Bergen County Cooperative Public Libraries ,  Jersey City Free Public Library , Ramapo Catskill Library System, Connecticut Public Libraries