The Edward Waters College (EWC) Library is housed on the first floor of the Centennial Building, which is located in the center of the College campus. The Centennial Building is a three story, red brick structure which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Edward Waters College was established in 1866 and has the distinction of being Florida's oldest independent institution of higher learning, as well as the state's first institution established for the education of African Americans. EWC is named in honor of the third Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. In February 2011 the Edward Waters College Board of Trustees appointed Jacksonville native and alumnus Dr. Nathaniel Glover as the 29th President of EWC.

Just as the Centennial Building is located in the center of the College campus, the Library also occupies the center of the College's learning activities. The mission of the Library is to facilitate academic learning and research, to support the college curriculum, to enhance classroom instruction and the critical thinking process, the teaching of information literacy, and to promote professional, ethical, and social growth by providing the latest information resources, services, and technologies to students and faculty. The Library further endeavors to stimulate and encourage the development of lifelong learning.