The State Medical Library was established on January 31, 1925, with the institutional task of acquiring bibliographic material from various branches of medicine. The founding act of the library was signed by the Ministry of Public Education, the Royal University of Rome, and the administration of the Pio Institute of S. Spirito and United Hospitals of Rome.
On February 26, 1925, the day of the inauguration, Prof. Vittorio Ascoli presented the library as the essential complement to the research purposes of the Umberto I Polyclinic.
Until 1975, the library depended on the Ministry of Public Education. With the establishment in 1975 of the Ministry for Cultural and Environmental Heritage, the library came under its jurisdiction while maintaining its identity.
The initial bibliographic collection, consisting of the collections of the Lancisiana Library, the Medical Academy, and the Alessandrina Library, was further enriched by donations from some illustrious scholars such as Casimiro Manassei, Luigi Galassi, and Felice la Torre.
Due to lack of space, older bibliographic material is stored in external warehouses.
The library has managed the integration and updating of various medical disciplines and has also sought to acquire manuals for medical faculty exams. In 2016, the library was relocated to the premises of the National Central Library of Rome.
