[11] The main community language collections are held at Sutherland, Menai and Sylvania libraries, covering Arabic, Chinese, Greek and Russian.

[19] Sutherland Shire Libraries also offer Encyclopædia Britannica, Consumer Health Complete, information about health for the general public, Gale Virtual Reference Library, Infobase ebooks, Salem Press biographies, and the Standards Australia building standards in-library.

[24] Several oral histories with early residents of the area have been recorded and transcribed on the website, released under a Creative Commons license.

[26] The library offers reader's advisory services, book clubs, author talks, and interlibrary loans.

[38] Energy-monitor devices and sustainability kits for households have also been available to borrow from the libraries,[39][40] and batteries, cables and small e-waste items can be recycled at the Caringbah branch.

[41] The library also offers an app which allows users to search the collection, check out books, and manage their account.

[47] In 1950, the Kirrawee Progress Association asked Sutherland Shire Council to establish a library of non-fiction.

[54] In the Sydney Subject Specialisation Scheme, a defunct Sydney-wide collection development agreement which facilitated interlibrary loans since 1962, prior to the advent of computerised union catalogues,[55] Sutherland Shire Libraries maintained a focus on philosophy, psychology, aquariums, chemical technology and Dutch literature.

[8] In 2004, Sutherland Library staff won a Guinness World Record to be the longest read-alouders, with a time of 81 hours and 15 minutes.

[62] A strategic planning document tabled by PricewaterhouseCoopers for Sutherland Shire Council in the same year recommended the closure of two library branches.

[68][69] The central branch was proposed to move to Kirrawee as part of the South Village shopping centre,[70] but this was later scrapped.

[4] A 'technology-focused library and community hub' is now planned to operate in the South Village complex,[71] with a slated opening of April 2025.