To be or not to be together: is there a choice? (Keynote paper)

The paper aims to reflect on the aims of contemporary regional library co-operation, its reasons, forms and types of co-operation. It introduces the concept of regional co-operation, follows the historical development of its types, forms, models, and complexity. The emphasis is on the essential difference of modern library co-operation from earlier periods, its drivers and inhibitors, main actors and ultimate possibilities that is open as an intermediary level between local and international library work.