The planning phase was officially started on 4 April 1980, with the establishment of an experts' commission made up of representatives from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (MCHA), the ICCU, the National Central Library of Florence, the European University Institute and the National Research Council.
From 1987 to 1990, the project "Library Heritage System" (Italian: Sistema beni librari) made it possible to recover the catalogues of the National Italian Bibliography (Bibliografia nazionale italiana, BNI), the Bulletin of Foreign Modern Works (Bollettino delle opere moderne straniere, BOMS) and other catalogues related to music and Southern Italy-theme funds, which came to constitute the first substantial nucleus of the catalogue.
In 1996 a feasibility study was started to create a single database, integrating the previous ones related to modern books, ancient books and music,[6] and enable the management of graphic and cartographic material, also allowing a certain degree of interoperability with programs not developed within SBN.
However, the single hub databases only share the bibliographic description of the record, thus keeping total autonomy regarding the possibility of adding further information (such as the local position of a book, purchasing orders, more specific search keys, etc.).
Through the OPAC consultation is also possible: The National Library Service puts at disposal the Inter library loan SBN (ILL SBN), a national service of interlibrary loan and document delivery, accessible to everybody and addressed to librarians and end users.