Last summer the "New York Times" declared young librarians hip--and, in the minds of some librarians, actually reinforced the other stereotype: that older members of their profession are reclusive bookworms and cranky old ladies. But whether young librarians are hip or dowdy doesn't matter. What matters is what they think about the future of the library, particularly at academic institutions. Libraries are facing a series of immense challenges: the explosion of information, a rapidly changing technological environment, shrinking budgets, pitched battles over copyright, a new world of information literacy, and continuing deficiencies in old-fashioned literacy. On top of it all, academic libraries face a crisis of graying leadership. Young librarians, hip or not, will eventually be the people dealing with these issues. This month "The Chronicle" contacted eight librarians under 40 and asked them a series of questions about the future of their profession. Answers to the following eight questions are presented in this article: (1) What is the future of the book?; (2) Will there be a reference desk?; (3) What information services will be performed by libraries in the future, and what information services will be performed by companies and nonprofit groups?; (4) Should the relationship between libraries and publishers change? If so, how?; (5) Does the library profession need to diversify and draw from different populations?; (6) What is one thing that libraries are doing right, and one thing that libraries are doing wrong?; (7) How well did your library-science education prepare you for the field today?; and (8) What will the academic library look like in the future?