In 1975, the Department of Agricultural Economics (DAE) was weaned from its mother unit, the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA), to form the Institute of Agricultural Development and Administration (IADA). It comprised the Departments of Agricultural Economics, Economics, and Agribusiness Management. The IADA Reading Room was also established, and it started with an initial collection of books, serials, and other reading materials donated by the faculty members and staff. The IADA Reading Room was envisioned as a depository of books, theses, serials, and other reading materials readily accessible to students, faculty, and staff.

Subsequently, in recognition of its maturity as an institution of higher learning, IADA was elevated to the College of Development Economics and Management (CDEM) on July 27, 1978. This came with the inclusion of the Agricultural Credit and Cooperatives Institute (ACCI), now renamed the Institute of Cooperatives and Bio-Enterprise Development (ICOPED).

In 1981, the ACCI Library and CDEM Reading Room were integrated and later renamed to CEM Library to be consistent with the renaming of CDEM to the College of Economics and Management (CEM). This facility is committed to becoming one of the significant sources of information on economics, agricultural economics, agribusiness management, and related fields.

From the humble reading room, CEM Library has become a self-sufficient research support facility with a continuously growing collection of reading materials. It provides services that meet the instructional, research, and extension needs of CEM and other units of UPLB. It is now considered a full-fledged research–academic library due to its comprehensive collection of different research materials such as undergraduate theses in Agricultural and Applied Economics and Economics, Cooperative, special problems and field studies in Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship and Business Management, books, journals and other necessary reference materials in the related field.

In 2017, CEM Library transferred to the Rural Economic Development and Renewable Energy Center (REDREC) building and occupied the first floor.