The library of the institute can claim to have an outstanding collection of books, reports, and journals in Social Sciences in the Eastern region of the country. The library is housed in its separate building of three floors. The second floor of the library was inaugurated on 1st December 2011 by Sri Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar. Late Smt. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India also paid a visit to this library on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee Celebration of this Institute on 4th January 1984.
During the 2014-2015 financial year, the library has added 409 books and 86 reports and bound volumes of Indian and Foreign journals. The institute presently subscribes to 87 Indian and 33 Foreign Journals. The library also receives 26 journals on an exchange program.
The library also subscribes to some important national and foreign weeklies besides newspapers. At present, the library holds 33,038 volumes of books. In addition, there are 32,888 bound volumes of journals and reports. Besides these, there are microfilms and CDs in stock. Many Institutions including ICSSR, New Delhi, and individuals have been sending complementary copies of their publications to this library. Various Government agencies, State Assembly, UNESCO, and ILO regularly send their reports and publications. Besides, the library has also received the entire personal collection on wide-ranging subjects consisting of nearly 3,000 volume books as a gift from Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), which have been kept under a separate section known as the "JP Collection". The institute's library has been designated as one of the Depository Libraries in India by International Organisations like UNCTAD and UNESCO.
The library provides documentation services intermittently. A new term "Bihar in Print", a quarterly bulletin has been added to the documentation list. The bibliography service covers the following issues: Social and Cultural Change in India, Family researchers in Asia, Tribal life, Socio-Economic Study, Land Holdings of India, Women in India, Non-alignment, Naxalite Movement, Migration, Police and Policing in India, Muslims in Bihar, Scheduled Castes: Their Status and Education, Communalism in India, J. P. Movement and Emergence of Janata Party, Violence, Urban Studies, Adult Education etc. which covers select literature scattered in various journals and books on Bihar and Jharkhand since 1911. A new automatic electronic photocopier machine has been installed in the library to facilitate the research endeavors of faculty members and research scholars.