When Santa Fe Community College opened in 1966, the Library was established by a private vendor. The collection was housed in the former Buchholz Junior High School building on West University Avenue in Gainesville.
By 1970 the college had set up classroom and programs in the former Lincoln High School building, known as the Southeast Campus. A library collection was established in that building . About the same time, the college also began teaching classes at the East Campus which was formerly the old Thomas Hotel. A small library collection of mainly health related books and periodicals was opened to serve the programs taught at that center.
In 1973 the Library moved into Building G on the Northwest Campus. This marked the beginning of a move to consolidate and develop the library collection. In January, 1978, the Library moved into a brand new facility named the Learning Resources Center in Building P. The health related collection was integrated into the library in 1984.
The Library became part of the Library User Information System (LUIS) in 1985. LUIS electronically linked the catalogs of the state university libraries and the Santa Fe College Library. In 1994 the Library's catalog became part of a shared system with the other community college libraries known as LINCC.
New technologies have allowed the Library to expand its services. The Library's website now offers electronic reference services such as email, live chat with a reference librarian, and links to numerous online databases.
In January 2002, the Library opened in Building Y. Named the Lawrence W. Tyree Library to honor the then out-going president of the college, the $10 million building has a coffee shop, computerized classrooms, two large group study rooms, DVD and video viewing stations, as well as two reference desks.