The Library's origins date back to the 1841 founding of Queen's University. The University's first home at 67 Colborne Street was too small to accommodate the modest library collection, which was therefore stored in the tower of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Among these books were the volumes given by the first donor to the library, Judge James Mitchell, MA, from London, Ontario.

During the following decades, the collection was relocated first to the University's Princess Street home, then the dining room of Summerhill, followed by a drafty corner of the Old Medical building, where, according to a contemporary account, it required "the heroism of a northern explorer" to hunt for a book because of the cold. In these early years, there was no catalogue and the library was only open for about an hour a day.

After 1880, the 11,000-volume collection found an attractive home in the rounded west end of the "Old Arts" building (now Theological Hall), where floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, accessible by ladders, lined the curving walls. The first card catalogue was produced in 1895 by Professor Adam Shortt, who was inspired by his visit to the library at Harvard University. Shortt's assistant, Lois Saunders, became Queen's first full-time librarian around the turn of the century.

In 1923, the neo-gothic Douglas Library opened as the University's first purpose-built facility. Named in honour of James Douglas, Queen's Chancellor from 1915 to 1918, this campus landmark housed not only the library collections, but also the offices of the Principal and other senior University officials until Richardson Hall was built in 1954. In order to accommodate the continually expanding collection, an extension was added at the building's north end in 1966. Campus building regulations stipulated that no structure was to exceed the height of Grant Hall, so three subterranean levels of bookstacks were incorporated in the design.

Separate faculty and departmental libraries began to sprout up across campus during the 1960s and 70s, reaching a peak of 16 departmental and three faculty libraries. Douglas Library continued to serve as the University's main social sciences and humanities library, as well as the home for the Library system administrative offices, a periodicals room, and a Special Collections unit for rare or fragile publications.

Height restrictions on campus buildings were eventually repealed to accommodate the construction of the five-storey Joseph S. Stauffer Library at the northwest corner of University Avenue and Union Street. Opened in the fall of 1994, the library was designed in an updated neo-gothic style and clad in limestone to match the neighbouring Douglas Library. Designed by Kuwabara Payne Mckenna Blumberg, the Library is named in honour of Joseph S. Stauffer, a graduate of Queen's (BSc 1920) and a generous benefactor. In 1997, Stauffer Library was awarded the Governor-General's Award for Architecture.

After the opening of Stauffer in 1994, Douglas was closed for extensive renovation, including beautiful restoration of the much-loved 1923 Reading Room. Consolidated humanities and social science collections, as well as the Art collection, moved into Stauffer (which also currently houses Library Administration and the Union Gallery, dedicated to displaying works by art students). The reopening of Douglas in 1997 coincided with the establishment of an amalgamated Engineering & Science library; the second phase of renovations, completed in 1999, marked the creation of the W. D. Jordan Special Collections and Music library. The library is named for W.D. Jordan (BA 1938), a friend and advisor to Joseph S. Stauffer.

Modern information technologies have accelerated the evolution of the digital library. With scholarly information becoming increasingly available in digital formats, space once occupied by bookshelves has been transformed into much-needed study space to serve the growing student population. Opened in 2004 on the ground floor of Stauffer Library, the Queen's Learning Commons offers students from all Faculties and Schools convenient one-stop access to the full range of academic support services offered by the Writing Centre, Library, Learning Strategies Development, ITServices, and the Adaptive Technology Centre (which provides individualized services for students with disabilities).

The Library as it stands today is the result of over 150 years of continuous evolution. Reflecting the growth and evolution of the University as a whole, the Library continues to support Queen's mission to educate tomorrow's leaders, providing continued opportunities for giving with broad impact across the Queen's campus. Please visit the Giving to the Library page for further information on current opportunities to contribute to the future of Queen's.