New York Public Library will undergo a four year renovation of existing storage space, converting it to usable space for library visitors. This conversion will also turn the main branch into a lending library, a benefit not available since 1970, according to Architectural Record.

Foster + Partners has been chosen to design the work from a list of about twenty candidate firms, winning with the firm's history of new work to historic buildings (Foster designed the Hearst Tower atop a historic base, and additions to the British Museum and the Reichstag).