The Manoel Marques de Souza Central Library was founded together with the Federal University of Santa Maria in 1960. However, the architectural project for the Central Library building, designed in 1966 by architects Oscar Valdetaro and Roberto Nadalutti, was inaugurated only in 1972.
The building features a rectangular base, a central courtyard, and three floors, as well as a veranda defined by the rhythmic arrangement of square-section pilotis columns.