The History of the World Library, 2040-2090: Key note speech to the IGeLU (International Group of ExLibris Users) Conference in Berlin, 8 September 2013.International Group of ExLibris Users Conference, Berlin

I have been asked to give a keynote speech on the future of libraries. The major governing idea of my presentation and the one that I believe will be the organizing principle for our future development is that modern technology will eventually make the traditional, local library obsolete as an instrument for storing and disseminating literature. In one generation, literature will totally migrate to the e-format and become ubiquitous, and a new, global library structure will be developed to handle this situation. Instead of presenting this concept to you in a chain of facts, observations, arguments, and projections, I have decided to take a leap of imagination: so, today we shall not be looking at the future of libraries, but at their past, as seen from the year 2090.