The State Library of NSW has long provided a sandstone sanctuary for readers and researchers.
Millionaire industrialist Michael Crouch said the library's Mitchell Wing reading room had been a good place to study even though his endeavours did not produce stellar results.
"I studied here for two years," he said. "I failed every exam."
Crouch, the founder of Zip Industries, is one of the major donors who have contributed $15 million towards the creation of new galleries and a learning centre to be named after John B. Fairfax.
The Michael Crouch Galleries will stretch across the first floor of the Mitchell building, doubling the library's exhibition space.
"We'll see the dimensions of the collection being better known to the people and also making them available as part of the experience of Sydney," said the State Library Foundation's chairman Kim Williams.
The State Library holds more than 6 million items, valued at $3.15 billion, including 100,000 paintings, 1.5 million photographs, 13 kilometres of manuscripts, 2.5 million books and more than 24,000 maps.
"This is a place of the most amazing, rich diversity that is about Sydney, NSW, Australia and the South Pacific in addition to the broad Western canon of knowledge," Williams said.
Yet the library has room to exhibit less than 1 per cent of its vast collection at any given time.
The galleries project and learning centre is part of the Library's master plan, which aims to transform the 106-year-old sandstone building into a "global cultural destination".
As part of the master plan, the NSW government has provided $4.8 million to improve access to the Mitchell wing of the library, and restore the original entrance facing Shakespeare Place and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
The State Library also proposes to build a bar and function centre on its roof, which requires a change in the permitted height limit of the building.
Williams said he did not believe the rooftop venue would affect the building's heritage or attract controversy.
"When you go up to the roof, it's a pretty ratty area so I don't think there are going to be a lot of terrible arguments in relation to the establishment of some fresh fabric."
Williams said the rooftop venue would provide another reason to visit the library: "It also of course provides much-needed revenue."
"I think we have an obligation to the people of NSW to find ways which are sensitive and aligned with the work of the library to find fresh revenue sources to acquire new things," he added.
Fellow donor John B. Fairfax highlighted his family's links to the institution: "The real connection actually goes back to the original John Fairfax if you like. He was a librarian here shortly after he arrived in Australia."
He described the State Library as a great repository for words.
"Not only do we learn from them but the learning centre will hopefully create an environment where young people and even old people can think about the future and perhaps innovative ideas and so on. That's the guts of it."
Fairfax said he felt "quite strongly" that Sydney should preserve and develop its cultural institutions.
"I sometimes think we concentrate unadvisedly on casinos and that sort of thing to attract people to come here," he said.
