The library was established in 1829 during the reign of King Swathi Thirunal of Travancore.

The work of starting and organising the library was entrusted to Edward Cadogan, a British resident and the grandson of British Museum founder Hans Sloane.

At that time, only a privileged class who were called to attend the Durbar of the king was allowed admission to the library.

[1] Other landmarks in the history of the library: The library has a searchable digital collection containing 707 rare documents, in English and Malayalam, and 480 digitised books in English.

[4] The New Heritage Model building within the campus is devoted for children's library.