Today I learned that Queens has a public library system that predated the consolidated New York City library system and fiercely fought to maintain independence rather than come under the control of a Manhattan-based system
Kind of like how many regions will have a unified transit payment card, even if it covers a half dozen completely independent adjacent transit systems
It seems that NY has a law that allows anyone in the state to be a member at any library in the state, but there's an opt-out if that would put an undue burden on the local system.
In practice, that means anyone in NYS can be a member of any of the NYC libraries + Buffalo. The others have either opted out, require you to visit in person, and/or pay a non-resident fee.