Gazi Husrev-bey Library was founded in 1537 when Gazi Husrev-bey established a high school (madrasa) and in his will stated „let what is left from the cost of building be used to buy some good books for the mentioned madrasa, to be read and for scholars to copy“.

The library was part of the Kuršumli madrasa until 1863 when it was moved near the Gazi Husrev-bey mosque. The expansion of the library collection demanded more space and the library was moved next to theImperial mosque (Careva džamija) in 1935 and remained in this place until the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. Due to security reasons, the library collection was movied to different locations in the city until the end of the aggression.

The main library collection comprises 10 000 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Bosnian language which makes this library among the largest in Europe and well-known in the world. The manuscripts originated from various parts of the Islamic world, especially from great and important centers such as Istanbul, Mecca, Medina, Cairo and Baghdad. A large number of manuscripts originate from Bosnian towns and villages where many Bosniaks wrote original works or transcribed books by different authors from different disciplines such as; Quranic sciences, hadith, aqaid, fiqh and its disciplines, ethics, tassawuf, philosophy, philology, history, geography, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary studies, mathematics and natural sciences.

 The library collection expanded as a result of donations of individual books or entire collections. The Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina also bought a significant number of private collections which are now part of the library collection.

The library collection today consists of 90 000 books and manuscripts including printed books, periodicals and historical documents in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Bosnian and other European languages. The periodicals collection includes the oldest newspapers printed in Bosnia and Herzegovina while the archives collection comprises documents related to history of Bosnia and Herzegovina during Ottoman rule as well as an important collection of wills (waqf-nama) and records (sidjil) of Shari'a Court in Sarajevo.

In spite of the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina, the library collection has been completely preserved and today remains one of the most important sources of materials for research of history and culture of Bosniaks.