State Library moves to throw open reading room, but not to weddings The grand, high-domed Mitchell Reading Room at the State Library of NSW will be opened to the general public, and scholars relegated to a renamed Scholars Room, under reforms that combine public relations and cost-cutting. Despite anxious whispers from traditionalist staff and users, state librarian Alex Byrne said the changes were part of "a big process of renewal" that began soon after the library's centenary in 2010. "We have a lack of public space if we compare ourself to the State Library of Victoria and the NSW Art Gallery," he said. We're aiming to open up the stack areas and a number of heritage areas that have been locked up behind the scenes and used for storage and staff. The Mitchell Reading Room has for 30 years served a mixed crowd of scholars, general readers and wide-eyed tourists. Next month, it will be refurbished to its 1942 layout with original tables and chairs to seat 220 people (an increase of 50) working with their own reading material and laptops - a vision, to some, of schoolchildren run amok. Books, card catalogues and librarians from the Mitchell will move to the library's newer Macquarie Wing. This would end the frustration of an arbitrary division between the collections, Mr Byrne said, and was in response to public demand. The original 1910 reading room will be restored from office space into the Scholars Room, a tranquil space that forms an "academic hub" with the Friends Room and a new Fellows Room. The changes enable the library to continue cutting costs to meet the impact of digitisation. After voluntary redundancies reduced staff numbers from 400 to 360 last year, more are under way, with a target of 312 over four years. "We are reviewing all our operations," Mr Byrne said. We can't afford to run so many service points. We also need to find other sources of funds. However, he dismissed "scuttlebutt" that the Mitchell Reading Room would become a public function room. While other rooms are available for lectures and weddings, the reading room is used only for library events such as the Premier's literary and history awards.