Competition among the many public services for tax supported funding is a major concern for metropolitan public libraries seeking financial support. The absence of the library is an integrated component of the public educational structure or as a general service agency in the mainstream of government has historically placed the library at a disadvantage. Problems in library financing are interwoven through the fabric of issues fundamental to U.S. economic and political life and cannot be solved without understanding their complexities. Growth of government at all levels with its attendant priority conflicts and variations in fund disbursement is a basic consideration. The social and economic growth patterns of metropolitan areas as opposed to their actual legal tax raising boundaries are a critical factor. The form of taxation, whether progressive or regressive, further complicates proposed funding arrangements. Libraries are presently undecided upon fixed tax support or support by appropriation with their differing and often opposed advantages. Careful examination of each library's role and future direction in the community and its local relation to the tax structure must be considered before defining financing objectives for the 1980s and beyond. The time for formulating these objectives is now. (A 62-item bibliography is attached.) (RAA)