The co-operative library was established in 1960 initially as ICA Regional Office and Education Centre for South East Asia, as it was called, set up a library to provide information and authentic references in matters related to co-operative movement worldwide and to ICA Member organisations.

In 1997, the ICA ROAP Library and Documentation Centre conducted an “Expert Consultation on the proposal of Research and Development programme”, which came out with various recommendations for the improvement of information dissemination services to its users. The library was re-christened as “Co-operative Information and Resource Centre (CIRC) based on the resolution of the 3rd serving as a Clearing House of Knowledge to meet the needs of National and International Member Organisations.Regional Assembly in October 1998 at Seoul. Since then the library has been serving as a Clearing House of Knowledge to meet the needs of National and International Member Organisations.

In the year 2000 the Library had to undergo a metamorphosis of changes such as weeding and downsizing the collection from 40,000 publications to 20,000 volumes and in 2002 the library had been shifted to current location at New Delhi. Over the years the library resources and services grew every year and it has been serving as the Information and Documentation Centre for Co-operatives. The Centre is one of the largest in the region and advanced in terms of service to readers, infrastructure and technology applications. The library houses more than 25,000 volumes on co-operatives and allied subjects, journals, newsletters and literature related to all sectors of co-operatives.