The Library of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław was established in 1949 (then as the Library of the State Higher School of Music) a few months after the establishment of the Wrocław Academy of Music in 1948. The core of its collection consists of sheet music publications, as well as books and periodicals on music studies. Books and periodicals on non-musical subjects are collected by the Library to the extent necessary for research and teaching. Among the most valuable documents housed in the Library are the manuscripts of Mieczysław Sołtys, Apolinary Szeluta, and Włodzimierz Ormicki. The Library also holds copies of almost all the works by the patron of the Wrocław Academy of Music, the composer and outstanding violinist Karol Lipiński, as well as copies of manuscripts by Wrocław composers, including: Ryszard Bukowski, Zygmunt Herembezty, Zbigniew Karnecki, Krystian Kiełb, Tomasz Kulikowski, Tadeusz Natanson, Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil, Jan Antoni Wichrowski, and Leszek Wisłocki. The Library's holdings also include collections of books, sheet music, and memorabilia donated by Wrocław musicians, most often associated with the Academy of Music, including those of Ryszard Bukowski, Józef Cetner, Wojciech Dzieduszycki, Emil Górski, Waleria Jędrzejewska, Stanisław Krukowski, and Włodzimierz Obidowicz. The collection donated by Waleria Jędrzejewska includes a rich collection of solo songs by Polish composers published by publishing houses in Kiev, Krakow, Lviv, and Warsaw at the turn of the 20th century. The Library also stores posters, programmes, press clippings and other documents relating to the artistic and scientific activities of the alma mater and the musical life of Wrocław and Lower Silesia after 1945.

The Library prepares thematic exhibitions as part of conferences and academic sessions held at the Academy, as well as presenting the Library's collections.

Since 2006, the Library has been a member of the Lower Silesian Digital Library Consortium (DBC). Its goal is to collaborate with libraries in the region in digitizing and providing online access to library collections.

In 2015-2016, the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław completed a project entitled "Reconstruction and Renovation of the Infrastructure of the Academy of Music in Wrocław." As part of this project, the Library's premises were modernized to ensure optimal learning conditions (funded by the Minister 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).