Visitor experience redefined: what's available during building works and what awaits

Step inside and immerse yourself in Australia’s history and treasures! Our iconic building is open to the public, offering a range of activities to enhance your experience.

• Encounter rare books, manuscripts and artefacts from history in the exhibition galleries
• Access our reading rooms for study, research or a well-deserved break 
• Uncover the hidden stories in our collection on a free guided tour of the building, departing 11 am daily from the foyer
• Catch up with your friends and family at Bookplate cafe in the foyer
• Browse a selection of Australian books and gifts to buy and take home at our bookstore
• Enjoy a coffee or light meal at Paperplate cafe located on the Lower Ground Floor

Progress updates

Temporary changes to collection access

Some collection storage areas will be temporarily closed, limiting access to some collection material. Different collection storage areas will be impacted at different times, but Library visitors can continue to request collection deliveries to the Reading Rooms as usual.

To find out what collections are impacted and when, and to help you plan your requests, please visit our temporary changes to collection access page.

Find out more about the temporary changes to collection access

Our Special Collections Reading Room and Petherick Reading Room has been moved to a new temporary location on Lower Ground 1.

Windows

We are continuing to restore the heritage windows around the Library to rejuvenate its appearance and improve thermal performance. This project will increase our thermal performance, with insulation added behind the bronze ‘spandrel panels’. Levels 1 to 4 were completed in May 2025. Over the coming months you will notice ground floor windows hoarded up as they too are restored and fitted with new glazing.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning

As part of our ongoing stewardship and care for the Library’s collections, the Library is upgrading the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and associated electrical and fire systems. We will soon have refurbished and upgraded these systems servicing over half the Library’s floor space.

Hume Repository Northern End Extension Project

Our collection grows every day, and with it, the need for sustainable collection storage arrangements. In the May 2023 Commonwealth Budget (National Cultural Policy – National Cultural Institutions – Sustainability Measure), the Library received $11.6m funding to construct an extension to the northern end of the Library-owned Repository in Hume, ACT.

Constructing an extension module at the northern end of the Repository will address the our most critical storage requirement for 18 linear kilometres of storage for its pre-1990 overseas monograph collection. This collection is temporarily housed at the National Archives of Australia (NAA) facility in Mitchell.

The extension will ensure the Library continues to provide core services and meet its legislative requirements, while safeguarding the national collection.

The new collection storage will be in the form of high-rise, static cased shelving. The facility and operations will be environmentally sustainable with a low carbon footprint and energy consumption, to meet the Australian Government’s APS Net Zero by 2030 requirements.

The official groundbreaking ceremony occurred on 27 November 2024. Construction and fitout will be completed by 31 January 2026. There will be minimal impact on collection access and staff operations during construction and fitout.

Completed projects

We’ve modernised and expanded our digitisation and photography workspaces to meet the growing demand for digital content. This project was completed in 2022. Additionally, the installation of new gleaming copper sheeting on the roof is now complete.

Funding

These projects have been funded by the Australian Government, including from the Library’s annual appropriation or special projects funding.