The library dates back to 1919, when the school began as the Advanced Academy of Agronomy and Forestry. For several decades, the collections were held in individual classrooms as the school underwent various name changes. In 1961, the school became the Taiwan Provincial Chung Hsing University and began to build the Taiwan Provincial Chung Hsing University Library. The library was a two-story building situated next to the sports ground and contained 320 reading seats within its 875 square meters.

Due to the increase in student population and the resulting demand, a new library named the Chung-Cheng Memorial Library was built next to the Chung-Hsing Lake and opened for operations in 1980. The library consisted of two buildings: a four-floor circular building containing 1,100 reading seats and a five-floor rectangular building to house the stacks.

The Chung-Cheng Memorial Library suffered severe damages from the large-scale earthquake on 21 September 1999. During reconstruction, the library’s main collections and resources were moved to three temporary sites: the Monograph Lending Center located in the basement of the Student Center, the Reference and Periodical Service Center located in the basement of the Hui-Sun Auditorium, and the Library Administration and AV Room located on the first level of the former Science-Engineering Building.

The current National Chung-Hsing University Library was inaugurated on 21 September 2005. Measuring 34,492 square meters, it has seven floors and a basement, with 2,100 reading seats and building-wide wireless internet access.

In 2010, the basement was redesigned from a traditional self-study area into a learning commons to provide an environment that facilitates both individual and group study. White dominates the color scheme, with wood tone and splashes of green implemented to tie a clean modern aesthetic with a hint of nature. Support columns are decorated to emulate trees branching into the ceiling. Glass walls printed with silhouettes of trees subdivide the area yet maintain the impression of accessibility.