The Ethnographic Museum Library was established in 1920. The first books in the library were donated by the then Museum's Director Salomon Berger and Vladimir Tkalcic, who later replaced him in his office. Since then, the holdings have been expanded through purchase, donations, and interlibrary exchange. For the time being, it has around 20,000 books and journals, including all major works from the area of ethnography and ethnology, particularly those associated with Croatia. It also includes books from related areas, such as history, art history, archeology, and literature. The holdings include such valuable works as Fortis' "Viaggio in Dalmazia" (Venice, 1774); Carrara's "La Dalmazia descrita" (Zadar, 1846), and Krauss' "Anthropophyteia" (Leipzig, 1904).

Apart from books, exhibition catalogues, and journals, the library also collects newspaper articles on the Museum's activities, as well as postcards and calendars with ethnographic motifs (primarily folk costumes).

As of 1993, the library's holdings have been processed by Crolist software.