On July 20th, 1919 an enactment by the Federal Ministry of Education decreed the establishment of a department for public education and the creation of a corresponding position in all federal states. The so-called officer for public education was responsible for all institutions of public education as well as for counselling the public libraries, whether they were sponsored by social democratic organisations, by the Catholic Church or by associations for national education.

After the so-called Anschluss (the annexation of Austria and Germany) in March 1938, it was decided that "by and large the unmodified structures of the public library system of the German Reich should be transferred to the Ostmark". For each "Gau" (district) a "Reichsbüchereistelle" was to be created. From January 1st, 1939 the central, state-run public library agency for the Ostmark was managed by Dr. Hans Ruppe, director of Vienna Public Libraries. The soon-to-be-established "Reichsbüchereistellen" in Linz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Graz and Salzburg pursued the nationalisation and cleansing of private and denominational libraries rigorously.

In 1945 the new government opted for taking over the "already established "Reichsbüchereistellen" and to integrate them into the administrative structures" by assigning them to the respective federal officer for public education. The idea was that the public library agencies should "give advice to libraries that plan to purchase new equipment or to restructure", provide "books, filing material and other operating supplies for libraries", support librarians by "supplying book lists, organising training courses and round tables" and "keep librarians up-to-date on all relevant issues".
By the end of March 2003 the duties of the national public library agencies were handed over to librarians' associations and governments of the federal states.

Österreichisches BibliotheksWerk
In 1928, Österreichisches BibliotheksWerk was founded under the name of Österreichischer Borromäusverein as an association for public libraries provided for by the Catholic Church. As a matter of fact it had to stop its activities ten years later. The Austrian organisation was a spin-off of the German Borromäusverein in Bonn, and the two institutions were in close contact until the Nazis came to power in Germany. Catholic librarians were, for instance, educated in Germany until 1933. At the time of its last general assembly in Linz on November 15th, 1937 the association counted 375 members.

The new foundation in 1947 not only brought the name "Das Österreichische Borromäuswerk" but also a new organisational structure. The secretariat and headquarters were united in Salzburg (before, the management of the association had had its seat in Salzburg while the secretariat had been in Steyr, Upper Austria) and the association was complemented by a division for business operations. Later on the business department was hived off and has been operating as a separate enterprise until now.

Another change of name happened in 1996, when "Das Österreichische Borromäuswerk" was renamed in "Österreichisches BibliotheksWerk. Das Forum katholischer Bibliotheken".

ÖGB-Büchereiservice (Division for libraries of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions)
In 1934, the workers' libraries that had been organised and financed by free trade unions and the social democratic party were disbanded by the austro-fascistic government but operations continued under the name "Verein Arbeiterbüchereien". After the national socialists came to power, the public and private lending libraries were taken over by the municipalities: the workers' libraries were either closed down or converted into municipal libraries. Vienna's workers' libraries had already been municipalized in 1936.

After the war functionaries from companies and local or district organisations of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) asked the educational department of the ÖGB to assist in the process of founding or the extension of libraries. Due to this request a separate division for libraries (Büchereiabteilung) was set up within the educational department in 1946. Its duties were "to support book acquisitions, to advise in the removal of fascistic literature and to train the librarians for their important work". In order to supply books for the libraries looked after by the Büchereiabteilung, an associated bookstore was established in 1950.

Büchereiverband Österreichs
In December 1947, the Federal Ministry of Education organised a meeting on libraries where the idea came up to establish an umbrella organisation for public libraries in Austria. Therefore, a committee of proponents - consisting of delegates from Das Österreichische Borromäuswerk, Verein Volkslesehalle, the Municipality of Vienna (for Vienna Public Libraries and the Central Library for Apprentices) and the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (for all libraries in companies) - attended the founding meeting of Verband Österreichischer Volksbüchereien in the premises of the public library agency for Lower Austria on June 1st, 1948. The head of the public library agency for Lower Austria, Dr. Edith Halusa, took on the task of filing the statutes and preparing a call for membership for all public libraries in Austria. The journal "Buch und Bücherei" reported that the association "is a partnership of expediency, an attempt of the People's Libraries - the neutral ones as well as the ones based on political or other philosophical ideas - to take matters into their own hands, democratically and in permanent contact with national agencies". "Every legal entity that maintains or owns a public library with a collection of at least 250 books" was eligible for full membership. Naturally, exemptions were granted: "Smaller libraries may apply for extraordinary membership."

The expectations from the umbrella organisation were high, in economic, professional and legal respects. The establishment of a purchase centre for books and library material came into mind. The organisation was supposed to be a pressure group, it should promote literature intensely and act in literature politics. At least in this respect the umbrella association did not fulfil the high expectations.

In addition to services and consultancy, a sound professional education, an evaluation regulated by law and the preparation of an Austrian library law were central concerns of the association. In course of he first general assembly already, a draft for a library law was presented for appraisal.

In 1988 the association was renamed in "Büchereiverband Österreichs".