Biblioteca Italiana delle Donne was born in the late 1970s as part of Centro di Documentazione, Iniziativa e Ricerca delle Donne, as a result of a project developed by Associazione Orlando, an association of women active in the research and politics fields, who established this autonomous institution to promote both the culture of gender difference and the female public presence.

Associazione Orlando runs the library in collaboration with the Bologna City Council with an official agreement for “Centro di Documentazione, Ricerca e Iniziativa delle Donne della Città di Bologna”, with the support of Regione Emilia-Romagna and the funding from the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism.
Since 2013 the library is connected to the Bologna Libraries Institution.