Established in 1816 following the formation of the Royal Warsaw University, it was led by the first director Samuel Linde, a linguist and educator.

In the post-war period, the University of Warsaw Library focused on rebuilding its collections, significantly increasing its holdings by acquiring materials from abandoned properties.

In the 1980s, it emerged as a center of free thought and anti-communist resistance, with the Solidarność movement members among its frequent visitors.

The library's building includes a botanical garden on its roof, designed by Irena Bajerska, which is among the largest in Europe and open to the public.

The library initially housed mostly theological and historical Books, the collection was however enlarged by papers from other scientific fields thanks to the right to receive Legal deposits obtained in 1819.

[1] After the fall of the November uprising the same year, the institution had been closed, and most of the collection taken away by Russian authorities to Saint Petersburg.

[1] After the war the library focused mainly on recovering its collections and acquiring new ones from abandoned properties of Germans and Polish nobility.

Unfortunately communist authorities’ deliberate reduction of funds for the university has automatically caused significant limitations in extending the library's resources.

[11][12] On 15 June 2001 president of the United States, George W. Bush gave a speech in the new library building to the university community and the residents of Warsaw.

[17] In the years 1996–2013, over 200 issues of the "BUW Bulletin" - a periodical describing important moments in the life of the library were published.

[18] Since March 2014, librarians describe the library's reality, discuss and share their professional experience, and publish their own works at BuwLOG.

The event was enthusiastically received by the students and then started taking place regularly: twice a year before the winter and summer examination sessions.

The change in the operating mode was a direct result of the evident demand of the university community for extended opening hours of the library during the summer months.

[26] University of Warsaw Library is a member of the following associations and organizations: In October 2023 librarians found several Russian-language 19th-century records missing, intentionally replaced with placeholders by unknown perpetrators.

Due to the incident, the head librarian Anna Wołodko, as well as deputy director of special records Katarzyna Ślaska got expelled from their respective offices.

The pavilion designed by Teruhito Iijima and its surroundings were built of natural materials (wood, bamboo, paper, clay, stone).