The Mudd Library was designed by Hugh Stubbins and cost $2.5 million at the time of its construction.

It was the first building to be designed under the University's energy conservation program and was dedicated on October 16, 1976.

[3] The building underwent a significant infrastructure renovation in 2020-21, in which the original HVAC, fire suppression, electrical, security, and plumbing systems were modernized, and a number of alterations to the first floor plan led to the creation of an additional seminar room.

The university archives is also the repository for Princeton senior theses and doctoral dissertations.

The library has collected from individuals and organizations that influenced these areas in the twentieth and twenty first centuries.