The Library of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław was established in 1949 (originally as the Library of the State Higher School of Music), only a few months after the founding of the higher music education institution in 1948. The core of its collection consists of music scores, as well as books and journals in the field of musicology. Non-music literature is also collected to the extent necessary to support academic research and teaching. Among the Library’s most valuable holdings are manuscripts by Mieczysław Sołtys, Apolinary Szeluto, and Włodzimierz Ormicki. The Library also houses copies of nearly all works by the Academy’s patron, composer and distinguished violinist Karol Lipiński, as well as copies of manuscripts by Wrocław composers, including Ryszard Bukowski, Zygmunt Herembeszta, Zbigniew Karnecki, Krystian Kiełb, Tomasz Kulikowski, Tadeusz Natanson, Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil, Jan Antoni Wichrowski, and Leszek Wisłocki. The Library’s collection also includes sets of books, scores, and memorabilia donated by Wrocław musicians, many of whom were closely associated with the Academy. Among these are the collections of Ryszard Bukowski, Józef Cetner, Wojciech Dzieduszycki, Emil Górski, Waleria Jędrzejewska, Stanisław Krukowski, and Włodzimierz Obidowicz. The donation from Waleria Jędrzejewska contains an extensive collection of solo songs by Polish composers, published in Kyiv, Kraków, Lviv, and Warsaw at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Library also preserves posters, concert programmes, press clippings, and other documents related to the artistic and scholarly activities of the Academy, as well as materials documenting the musical life of Wrocław and Lower Silesia after 1945.

The Library prepares thematic exhibitions accompanying conferences and academic sessions organized at the Academy, as well as presentations showcasing its own collections.

Since 2006, the Library has been a member of the Lower Silesian Digital Library Consortium (Dolnośląska Biblioteka Cyfrowa, DBC), whose mission is to support regional cooperation among libraries in the digitization and online dissemination of library resources.

In 2015–2016, the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław carried out the investment project “Redevelopment and Renovation of the Academy’s Infrastructure.” As part of this project, the Library’s facilities were modernized to ensure optimal conditions for teaching and learning. The project was co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Since 2017, the Library has been a member of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Information Centres (IAML).