July 11, 1993

AN entrepreneurial librarian has led a Bergen County computer consortium across county lines, gathering in thousands of new books, spreading contemporary technology and stirring controversy in the staid world of New Jersey's public libraries. Under Robert W. White, the executive director, the Bergen County Cooperative Library System has organized 61 relatively small, very independent municipal libraries into a unified computer system with combined resources of 515,000 titles -- some four million books.

'Safe Area' Perils in Sarajevo As 1,000 French troops arrived in Bosnia's capital to reinforce it as one of six "safe areas," one of them was shot and wounded. Page 10. Will The Post Survive? There are new signs of a possible deal between Rupert Murdoch and the unions at The New York Post to keep the newspaper alive. Page 27.

A LITTLE more than a week ago, American officials abruptly informed Egypt that Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman could leave the United States for any country that would accept him unless the Egyptians quickly presented an extradition request, which they reluctantly did. That was the bad news. The good news came a few days later, when the Government here learned that the sheik might spend years locked up as an illegal immigrant while his lawyers fought the extradition request in the American courts. And the really good news came when American legal experts poring over an 1874 treaty said extradition was not only a long way off, but fraught with so many hurdles that the blind and diabetic cleric might never make it back.

IN state and county programs and in local grass-roots efforts, thousands of New Jerseyans are clearing litter and debris from the state's roads, beaches, streams and parks. The number of groups participating in the State Department of Transportation's two-year-old Adopt-A-Highway program has soared to 420 from 118 a year ago. An additional 60 applications are expected to be approved shortly. Under the program, businesses, service organizations and other groups "adopt" a section of a state highway, which they agree to clean up four times a year.

LYNDON JOHNSON was seeking a full term as President, promising a "Great Society" at home and no escalation in Vietnam. The Beatles were the newest music sensation. America felt rich and successful, with economic growth topping 5 percent a year. And the stock market was rising ever so quietly, with virtually no volatility. Life in 1993 appears to be very different from 1964. Economic growth above 3 percent now seems like a distant memory, and even a mild economic stimulus package is deemed unreasonable because of huge budget deficits. At last week's summit meeting in Tokyo, President Clinton went to great lengths to note that jobless prosperity is affecting all major industrial economies, not just this one.