When the Eau Claire State Normal School opened in 1916, the library was housed in the basement of the only substantive building on campus. It served as both the circulating and the textbook library for the school. Despite a 1,000% increase in enrollment, the library remained in "Old Main" until 1960 when McIntyre Library was constructed. By this time the Normal School had become a college, and the library staff had risen from one in 1917 to five in 1960. Another leap in enrollment brought the need for a major addition to the library and an increase in staff to 12 librarians by 1972. Another addition and remodeling project was completed in 1993, and as of 2006, the entire library is housed only in the addition.

As of 2022, the library, along with the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Foundation, provides a $500 McIntyre Library Student Employee Scholarship. Applicants for this scholarship must be a current, full-time student with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5, be a current employee of McIntyre Library and have worked in the library for at least two semesters prior to the date of their application. Previous winners of the scholarship are not eligible to receive the award again.