The library was established in 1911 and named after Henry Madden in 1981.

The Library features a number of special collections such as:

The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature, a research center with over 55,000 books and manuscripts, the oldest dating back to 1865, one of the largest collections west of the Mississippi.

Woodward Special Collections Research Center, containing the Central Valley Political Archive.

15 Photographs by Ansel Adams.

Federal and California Government depository collection.

The oldest book in the collection is a 1474 copy of Vita Christi (The life of Christ) by Ludolph of Saxony in two volumes, acquired in 1963.

According to wikipedia