The establishment of the Icelandic Library is based on the Regulation on the Icelandic Library for the Blind from 7 May 1982. Before that time a lot of pioneering was done, mainly by Helga Ólafsdóttir, the first director of the Museum and Gísli Helgason, and the Blind Society. Here's where this story is going to be traced.

The first audio books or first reading of books are created using magnetic tape technology in the sixties. It is started by reading on tape recorders under the auspices of the Icelandic Blind Friends' Association around 1955, and in 1957 the Blind Friends' Society began reading the same kind. The Blind Association redecorated a special room for audio book reading in Hamrahlíð 7. The Blind Friends of America lent tape recorders to blind and visually impaired people for listening, but the Blind Society made sure that blind and visually impaired people could acquire equipment at very good prices. Everyone who read in did so on a voluntary basis and often read in their homes in varied conditions.

In 1975, the Blind Society and the City Library entered into an agreement on the publication and dissemination of audio books. The library handled cataloguing and distribution, and the books were recorded by the Blind Society. This is the location of an audio library, The Book Home, located in the Museum of the World on a discreet basis and later in Hólmgarður. Due to popular interest, an audio book department was then set up within the City Library in connection with the Blind Society, and audio books increased year by year. This department served not only the citizens but the whole country.

In 1979, the participation of the state was considered, as the Nordic countries had operated blind libraries for many years. Helga Ólafsdóttir and Gísli Helgason went to the meeting of the Minister of Education, Ragnar Arnalds, in October 1979 and a bill on a blind library was then passed by the Althingi in 1982.

The Icelandic Library for the Blind began operation in early 1983 and was then opened in the premises of the Blind Association to Hamrahlíð 17 on 22 February 1984. Initially 1-10 copies of each book were produced, and the problem of the library was that too few titles were recorded, too few copies. Tape reels and later CD-ROMs were sent all over the country and the loan recipients were very grateful for this service.

The museum moves to Digranesvegur 5 in Kópavogur in 1994 to a spacious place, as it required a lot of space for all the cassettes and CDs. The book option was available on tape only and later on CD-ROM and point-reading material was also produced, and this activity was subsequently moved over the year 2008-2009 to the Centre for Services and Knowledge for the Blind, Visually Impaired and Individuals with Integrated Visual and Hearing Impairment.

The 2008-2009 marketing year saw a revolution in the distribution of audio books and all the library‘s operations when audio recordings were digitized. A lot of work was put into making the library digital and the project was costly. The generous gift of the couple, Málmfríður Jóhannsdóttir (1916-2007) and Finnboga Bjarnason (1926-2006), was very useful, but they left the collection of their belongings to the family to strengthen their operations.

The name of the library was changed in 2013 and the Icelandic Library was created. The Regulation on the Library states: “The role of the Icelandic Library is to provide those who cannot use ordinary printed fonts for library services through the dissemination of diverse library material. These can include blindness, partial vision, dyslexia, etc. Particular emphasis shall be placed on study services."

The 40th anniversary of the Museum was celebrated in 2022 with a ceremony at Digrantsvegur on 5 May. The writer Guðrún frá Lund was used to create a comprehensive vision for the collection and a website was put up.

The audio library has changed a lot in those forty years, as it is today a mostly electronic library, although there are still burnt-out CDs for the group that chooses to use that technology. At first the library was designed solely for blind and partially sighted people, but in the 1990s its operations were expanded and certificates from people struggling with dyslexia were being accepted in line with those of sister institutions in the Nordic countries. The revised Copyright Act of 2021 defines who has the right to become a loan recipient at the library.

The sponsors of the Library of the Blind have supported the operation from the outset. Many NGOs and individuals have made great contributions through voluntary work and support to the Museum, with the Blind Society being at the forefront. The Reykjavík Charity of the Red Cross also provided the Museum with a great deal of support for many years, and for some time the library received special income from the Blind Library Grant Fund (established in 1989) and from the Friends of the Icelandic Blind Library (established in 1993).