The first indications of the existence of the Library of the Alhambra date back to 1872, but the foundation of this institution took place in 1909 with the legacy of Count Romanones.

In the years in which Leopoldo Torres Balbás was architect and curator of the Alhambra (1923 –1936), the library had a great expansion with the acquisition of numerous documents, the best and most recent Spanish and foreign publications were selected, centered on topics like the History of Granada, Andalusian and Islamic Art, the Alhambra and the Generalife, oriental topics, etc. It is then when the library began to acquire its nature of specialised center.

The library had its head office in the Palace of Charles V(Palacio de Carlos V) until 1994, when the partial restoration of the Palace caused that the library was transferred to the building located near the gardens of the Generalife, the Entrance Pavilion and the car-parks, called "New Museum Buildings".

Currently, the institution has fundamentally a rich collection formed by the collection of works of the Library of the Museum of the Alhambra, the special legacies of Ángel Barrios and Jacinto Bosch Vilá, and an important number of periodic publications, pamphlets and offprints.

The objective of the Library of the Alhambra is the preservation, administration, acquisition and dissemination of its collection of books and documents, with the purpose of allowing its dissemination and consultation for the cultural, administrative, scientific and technical development of the staff of the Council and external scholars.

The topics covered are Islam Art and Architecture, Archaeology, Gardening and Landscape, Conservation and architecture techniques, Restoration, Administration and Heritage management, Archives, Library science and Museum science, History, Literature and Eastern Thought, Orientalism, Renaissance Art and Ornamental Arts of the Islam.