In 1968 preparation of a new five-year plan gave an opportunity to rethink the principles of librarianship, and summarise the ideas of library policy suggested for the following period. The National Library Council discussed the propositions of István Sallai, which were severely criticised in the first instance by strictly thinking socialist library politicians. Remembering the circumstances, a participant of the discussion, a supporter of Sallai's propositions and ideas explains why the proposition had such a great impact. The document was known to relatively few people, it had never been published though its spirit, suggesting the development of libraries after the public library model, was incorporated into the library policy of the coming years.