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State funding for public libraries
The Minister for the Arts the Hon Ben Franklin MLC announced on 10 November 2022 that the record levels of State Government funding for NSW public libraries will now be recurrent. The media release from the Treasurer and the Minister for the Arts is available on the NSW Government website. The State Library is excited at the prospect of working with NSW councils to ensure that these funds significantly improve public libraries statewide.
Total funding over the next four years will be as follows:
| 2023/24 | $40.892M |
| 2024/25 | $41.326M |
| 2025/26 | $41.771M |
| 2026/27 | $42.227M |
This funding announcement builds on the 2019/20 to 2022/23 funding package that was announced by the Premier, the Hon Gladys Berejiklian, and the Minister for the Arts, the Hon Don Harwin on 24 August 2018. At the time this was the largest single commitment to increasing public library funding by the NSW Government since the Library Act was introduced in 1939.
2019/20 to 2022/23 funding
| 2019/20 | $36.478M |
| 2020/21 | $37.558M |
| 2021/22 | $38.618M |
| 2022/23 | $40.468M |
The components of the Funding Strategy that increased as a result of the additional funding included the Per Capita Subsidies, Subsidy Adjustments, the Outback Letterbox Library and the Public Library Infrastructure Grants.
The per capita amount for subsidy increased annually from $1.85 to $2.85 per head in 2022/23, a 54% increase in per capita subsidy payments by 2022/23 for all councils.
| Year | New per capita amount |
| 2019/20 | $2.45 |
| 2020/21 | $2.55 |
| 2021/22 | $2.65 |
| 2022/23 and for each subsequent financial year | $2.85 |