The Shakespeare Centre Library has its origins in a collection of books, pictures and historical documents, illustrative of Shakespeare, housed and displayed in Shakespeare's Birthplace. It was opened to the public in time for the celebrations of the three hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare's birth in 1864. The first catalogue, A Brief Guide to the Shakespeare Library and Museum, Stratford-upon-Avon, was published a year later, priced one penny, and the first Librarian was appointed in 1873.

In its earliest years the emphasis of the library collections was strictly biographical and antiquarian. Indeed in 1882 it was decided that they should exclude portraits of all actors of Shakespeare characters except Garrick and editions of the plays and works on Shakespeare published after the seventeenth century. About 650 such unsuitable books and pamphlets were loaned to the Library of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, newly established in 1880, to be reclaimed in 1914 when a separate library and reading room was set up in a building adjacent to the Birthplace. Nevertheless additions to the Library at this time continued the focus on early editions, especially those which Shakespeare may have consulted as sources for his plays or copies with particular Shakespeare associations or references. As Shakespeare became part of the university syllabus and the teaching of literature was professionalised, the volume of publications on the man and his plays increased and the Library began to collect critical and interpretative studies.

Stratford-upon-Avon was fortunate to have two significant Shakespeare libraries: the Shakespeare Memorial Library at the Theatre with its focus on dramatic literature, acting editions, prompt copies and theatrical material and the Library of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust concentrating on antiquarian and academic studies. As early as 1938, when the Trust's Librarian was appointed Honorary Librarian of the Memorial Theatre, there were thoughts of coordinating the two collections to avoid duplication of stock and for the convenience of readers. In 1964 the Shakespeare Centre Library, as it is now constituted, came into being when the library collections of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust were merged with the library and archive of the Royal Shakespeare Company (as the Memorial Theatre was by then known) in the new Shakespeare Centre building, opened to mark the quatercentenary of Shakespeare's birth. This amalgamation has resulted in a unique collection covering every aspect of Shakespeare's life and works with particular strength in the history of his plays in performance in Stratford and throughout the world.

For more information and illustrations of the Library's holdings see: Levi Fox, In Honour of Shakespeare: The History and Collections of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, enlarged edition (Norwich and Stratford-upon-Avon: Jarrold in association with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, 1982)