The man who opened a new era (in memory of E.I. Kuzmin)

The article is dedicated to the memory of E.I. Kuzmin, the head of the country's librarianship during the difficult years of perestroika for the industry, his activities as a representative of Russia in UNESCO structures, Chairman of the Russian Committee of the UNESCO flagship program "Information for All". His contribution to the functional and technological modernization of libraries, their computerization, to the development of public administration of the industry and the creation of the RBA is considered. The article highlights his activities in organizing UNESCO international forums in Russia on the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity, the development of media and information literacy, and the preservation of electronic information. It is concluded that E.I. Kuzmin will go down in the history of information and library science as an energetic leader and innovator who laid the foundation of libraries of the XXI century.