The current physical form of the State Library reflects its historic development. Incremental development over many years has complicated circulation for staff, visitors and collections, and led to many spaces being underutilised or disconnected from others.
The Strategic Masterplan set out a range of principles that acknowledge the vision and operational imperatives of the State Library of New South Wales, and identified a range of projects which could be implemented progressively to improve public access, staff amentity and community, and protect the State’s collections.