The library was established when the Astronomical Station of Carloforte was founded in 1899. The institute had purely observational and technical purposes, as it was a station then considered "temporary", i.e. destined to be closed after a few decades of activity. This approach is reflected by the consistency of the "historical" heritage of the library, consisting mainly of catalogues, ephemerides, manuals and mathematical tables, as well as some texts on general astronomy and astrometry.

In the 1970s the project to transform the Astronomical Station into an Observatory began, with a significant increase in the fields of interest and the transfer of activities to the new headquarters. The director, at that time, Edoardo Proverbio, who was responsible for the boost for this transformation, took care of the expansion of the library, combining the actual scientific texts with series on the history of science, philosophy and general culture, thus giving the catalog current structure. Furthermore, he personally oversaw the purchase of numerous ancient volumes of various interests, enriching the heritage with some rare pieces and numerous curiosities.