As early as 1879, the student literary organization the Meusch Society developed a reading room for Elmhurst College students in the basement of Old Main. The first official library at Elmhurst College was developed in Irion Hall in 1912. Tables from that library are still in use in the Rudolf G. Schade Archives.

In 1921, the College constructed a free-standing library building. Memorial Library was built with funds from a campaign led by alumnus Reinhold Niebuhr sponsored by the Evangelical League. There are two large dedication plaques in Memorial Hall remembering the many German Evangelicals who served and died in World War I. Memorial Library served the college as a library from 1922 to 1971, with two wings added to the building in 1958. In 2024, a portion of Memorial Hall was demolished in order to build a new Health Sciences building.

The A.C. Buehler Library was conceived after an incredible growth in the student population at Elmhurst College in the 1960s, more than doubling in just over a decade. It was built with the financial assistance of Albert C. Buehler, president and chairman of the Victor Comptometer Corporation and a member of the College’s Board of Trustees. Dedicated in December 1971, the library has become a cornerstone of the east side of the campus. It was been renovated in 1993, which involved a brief stay in Hammerschmidt Chapel. Another renovation in 2002, made possible by the generous donation of the estate of Gladys (Class of 1940) and Ray Robinson, included an entirely new entrance. The last major renovation in 2019 included a new classroom space and a large, dedicated space for the Learning Center. 

Today, the library holds over 180,000 physical items and over 700,000 digital items. Nearly 50 computers are available for student, faculty, and staff use, and the building is home to six other academic centers. The library’s Rudolf G. Schade Archives and Special Collections preserves the history of the university in its nearly 140 year history. The library is also proud to be home to a collection of twentieth-century art, primarily of the Chicago imagists, and a growing collection of student pieces as well.

Buehler Library Dedicated. (1971) Elmhurst College Magazine, 5(2), 10-11.