The Library's date of foundation was simultaneous with of the Institute in year 1943.  Its initial holding consisted of the books of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Pécs closed in year 1941. In the years following World War II the Institute's staff was doing its best to save the valuable but perishing materials of family and estate archives and libraries from annihilation. The Institute which initially was saving these archive materials spontaneously was later officially commissioned by the Ministry of  Religion and Public Education for extending this activity for the territory of Baranya, Somogy and Tolna counties. As a result of this the Library's collection was extended by the books of Festetich Castle in Dég  containing mostly historical andd philosophical works and by the library of  Prince Montenuovo in Németbóly consisting of historic archives and maps in French. The Library was further enriched by the collections of the Jeszenszky family in Bükkösd and by the geographical, military history and other historical books of the  Zrínyi Miklós Military Academy in Pécs.

   The Library received the following collections as a gift: the biological and geographical books of Jenő Cholnoky, professor in geography in Budapest, the agricultural, geological and historic books of the Agricultural Society of Baranya County and also the full geographical collection of the Library of the closed Geographical Institute of University of Pécs. Although the majority of these collections was transferred to National Széchényi Library and to public archives in the 1950s still an invaluable archive collection ined in the Library.  The number of books published before the 1800s is 303. 10% of the present archived journals of the Library date back to the years of the 1870–1880s. 

   Thus, the collection of the Library was based on books of geography, history, literatute and linguistics. Since 1967 this profile was further extended by books in folklore, local history and mining. 

   Year 1962 was a major turning point in the history of the Library as this was the first time when a position of full-time librarian was opened for the management of the Library's collection.

   In the early 1970s a new period started for the Institute and the Library as well. The government's scientific policy set an aim of developing complex social science research institutes in cities outside Budapest and governmental decrees of regional and local development set up new directions for researches. Regional and local development researches were officially recognized as academic basic researches and interdisciplinary researches were introduced on new experimental basis.

   The changing of the Institute's research profile transformed the Library's acquisition policy as well. The Library's original and traditional collection was extended by books in economics, law and sociology.
 

   The change of research profile started in 1972 was completed by the foundation of Centre for Regional Studies Hungarian Academy of Sciences in year 1984 and from this time on the Library's collection profile has been focusing on the acquisition of domestic and foreign literature in regional science.