Inspiration and excitement at the Opening Session

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During the Opening Session on Sunday, 17 August, all IFLA WLIC 2014 delegates here in Lyon were welcomed by a number of distinguished individuals.

The Opening Session also included a video projection of some of the world’s first films by the Lumière brothers and ended with a spectacular dance performance by the Pockemon Crew.

The opinion of Keynote Speaker Bernard Stiegler, who spoke at length on the importance of literacy and libraries, can be summed up as follows: Libraries will never die!

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For Steigler, one need only remember the recent and widely-held claim that mass digitization projects were going to permanently end the glory days of libraries. On contrary, he instead believes that libraries are more important than ever and the world is witnessing a time of rebirth for all types of libraries. Patrimonial libraries, academic and public libraries alike will continue to play a crucial role in the world’s future.