Although for the time being most science departments retained their own collections, the library expanded swiftly to cover the rest of the college's activities.

[4]: 306 [9] In the 1960s Imperial College quickly expanded in both facilities and population as part of an expansive programme of government investment.

Following a consultation with Foster and Partners in 1994, the library was renovated and a Waterstones bookstore opened as part of an expansion of the ground floor in 1997.

[4]: 641  Two additional modern glass-clad floors were added to the top of the building, with the extension designed by John McAslan + Partners.

[13] The Science Museum Library finally closed in 2014, with resources being moved to the Dana Centre on Queen's Gate and off-site archives.

[14] From 2017 through to end of summer 2018 the library underwent significant renovations, including the introduction of air conditioning, at a cost of £11 million.

[15] In 2023, the Central Library was renamed after Nobel laureate Mohammad Abdus Salam, who founded Imperial College's theoretical physics department.