The Library was established, with William Willcox appointed as the Librarian. It was located in two rooms on the ground floor of the Ryerson Hall (Normal School) building and was used mainly for meetings. Its first order of 1,000 volumes of books was placed in 1949. In 1954, Margaret Culp was appointed Head Librarian, with the library collection growing to 7,000 volumes in 1956. Philip McLeod was appointed Head Librarian in 1957. In 1958, the Library Collection grows to 8,000 books and 200 periodicals while small collections of photographic slides and paperbacks are added to the holdings. As well, students were given their first orientation by staff.

In 1960, the fourth Head Librarian appoint is Barbara Knox, and in 1961 the Library issued its first statement of objectives. In 1962, Margaret MacGregor is appointed Head Librarian. In 1963 the Library is relocated to the newly completed Howard Kerr Hall and its collection grows to 15,000 volumes. In 1965, Arthur Paulaitis was appointed Head Librarian. In 1966, the Library moved to the MGM building at the s/w corner of Gould and Victoria Sts, and by 1967 the library had 6 librarians on staff. In 1968 the library moved again to the Business building (later named Victoria Building) on Victoria Street.

In 1971, the Library's first collection development policy is created, and by 1972 it had 90 000 volumes with specialized collections such as periodicals on microfilm and government documents are established. In 1974, the Library is renamed the Learning Resources Centre and John North is appointed as its new Director, replacing Arthur Paulaitis, and the Donald Mordell Learning Resources Centre is officially opened on the site of the old MGM building. In 1976, the Ryerson Archives, established in 1971, becomes affiliated with the Library and in 1977 two new special collections are established within the Library - the Energy Centre and the Third World Learning Resources Centre. In 1979, the Ryerson Library becomes the first library in North America to operate its circulation on the DOBIS/LIBIS on-line computer system.

In 1990, Richard Malinski is appointed Chief Librarian, replacing John North.

The Library grew to include the Law Library and in time the School of Medicine library and, thus, in 2023 the name was changed from Library to Libraries.