Named after longtime University librarian Louis Round Wilson, the Louis Round Wilson Library opened in 1929 and served as the central campus library until the Walter Royal Davis Library opened in 1984. It now serves as the main special collections library for the University.

Wilson Library houses the Manuscripts Department (including the Southern Historical Collection, the Southern Folklife Collection, and University Archives), the Maps Collection, the North Carolina Collection (including the North Carolina Gallery, Photographic Archives, and Photographic Services), the Rare Book Collection, and the Special Collections Conservation Lab. Some students find it a quiet place to study as opposed to the hustle and bustle of House Undergraduate Library.