The CDC Reading Room was established in 1981 with the simple aim to provide spaces for students to read and study. At that time, CDC was still a department under the College of Agriculture and so, its graduate and undergraduate students primarily use the UPLB Main Library to access information materials related to their courses. The Reading Room’s collection started with book donations from Bridge to Asia Foundation, Communication Foundation for Asia, and personal collections of Devcom faculty, staff, and alumni. Slowly the collections grew, and by 1986, an administrative staff was formally assigned to manage the Reading Room. Its continuous existence was further justified when in 1987, the Department was elevated into an Institute, thus the need to expand its holdings, its services, as well as justify the need to receive financial support to maintain and update its collections, and continue its operation.

The CDC Reading Room commonly called now as the CDC Library, houses books and other literature on all aspects of development communication and its allied fields. It also contains the research manuscript of BS, MS, and PhD students.