The Austrian Librarians’ Conference (Der Österreichische Bibliothekartag) is the largest information event of the academic libraries in Austria. Since 1950, it has been organised every two years by the Association of Austrian Librarians and has since then acted as the central presentation platform for developments and innovations in the library sector. This article gives an overview of the difficult preparatory work for the 1st Librarians’ Conference in Salzburg and traces the further development based on four phases. Finally, the article attempts to give an outlook on the potential future of this event series in view of increasing virtualisation tendencies.