The West Georgia College Library was officially organized in 1933 and housed in one room of the old Administration Building. That same year, Irvine Sullivan Ingram, the first president of West Georgia, appointed Annie Belle Weaver as the college's first librarian and the Library remained under her leadership until her retirement in 1969.

The first major step in the development of the library program was the construction of a separate library building, Sanford Hall, which was begun in 1936 and completed in 1937. In 1940, through President Ingram's influence and support, the Rosenwald Fund appropriated $20,000 for the enlargement of Sanford Hall and a further expansion of the same facility was completed in 1958 with state funds.

During the 1960s, the library's collection and range of services to patrons grew so rapidly that Sanford Hall's expanded facilities were insufficient. In 1968, a new building was constructed and opened and the following year, upon Miss Weaver's retirement, Robert H. Simmons was named head librarian. During his tenure, 1967-1977, the library increased its collection to 200,000 volumes and saw its staff double in size, as West Georgia College's library joined other college libraries in the expansion of services and in the use of new automated technology.

Soon after his appointment as West Georgia College's President in 1975, Dr. Maurice K. Townsend received approval from the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents to make an addition to the facility and to name the library for Irvine Sullivan Ingram. In so doing, the Board of Regents made a highly usual move since policy dictated that no buildings in the university system were to be named for living persons.

Charles E. Beard joined the library as director in the summer of 1978, beginning a 26-year tenure in that position. Work on the library addition began in 1979, was completed the following year, and the newly-enlarged and renamed library was dedicated on Sunday, May 25, 1980.

In 1983, Betty Jobson, who joined the library in 1964, moved into the role of associate director, retiring in June 1993. Mark McManus assumed this role in September 1993.

In June 2004, Charles Beard died and E. Lorene Flanders was appointed library director the following year and held that position for twelve years. In 2008, during the Georgia state legislative session, eight million dollars was appropriated in the 2009 state budget to fund the renovation of the library as a tribute to the late Georgia House Speaker Thomas B. Murphy. In 2009, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia awarded the design contract to Houser Walker Architecture and tvs design and the construction contract to Parrish Construction with work getting underway in the Spring of 2010 and completed the following year.