This article attempts to trace the history of the VÖB with a focus on social aspects. The numerous festivals, celebrations, excursions, and get-togethers that took place apart from and accompanied the professional meetings are nevertheless closely intertwined with them and can only be presented here in highlights. These activities promoted and continue to promote social contacts, facilitate personal interaction and give the individuals a sense of belonging. Detailed information about the importance of these joint undertakings and the meticulous planning which went into them can be found in the archives and the ofttimes enthusiastic reports that have appeared in the Mitteilungen der VÖB and in Biblos over the years. The library landscape in Austria is colourful and heterogeneous. The VÖB or, to be more precise, the individual committed members, succeeded, first in post-war Austria by snail mail, later through the modest Mitteilungen and nowadays by blog and a high quality peer-reviewed journal.