The State Central Library, Hyderabad (formerly Kutub Khana-e-Asafia) is Telangana's premier public library and the central institution of the state's library system. It was founded in 1891 by the eminent scholar Maulvi Syed Hussain Bilgrami, who began it with his personal collection of books. The library was later named Kutub Khana-e-Asafia in honour of the Asaf Jahi dynasty. Originally located in Abids, it was shifted in 1936 to its present landmark building at Afzal Gunj on the banks of the Musi River. The foundation stone of the building was laid in 1932 by Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan. Designed by the British architect Vincent Jerome Esch, the building was declared a heritage structure by INTACH in 1998 and was included in the World Monuments Watch list in 2025.

Spread over approximately 72,247 square yards, the library houses more than 500,000 books, journals, and newspapers. Its collections include rare publications dating back to the early nineteenth century, manuscripts, palm-leaf manuscripts, and valuable works in Urdu, Persian, Arabic, English, Telugu, and Hindi. Around 17,000 rare manuscripts from its holdings were later transferred to the Andhra Pradesh Oriental Manuscripts Library. The library celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1941, and following the enactment of the Hyderabad Public Libraries Act in 1955, it was designated as the State Central Library. An annex building was added in 1961 to accommodate its expanding collections.

In recent years, the State Central Library has undertaken extensive digitization of its collections. With the support of the National Informatics Centre's e-Granthalaya system and Carnegie Mellon University, more than 40,000 books have been digitized. A dedicated digital portal containing approximately 45,550 rare books is also under development. A significant portion of this invaluable collection is now available through the Rekhta Digital Library, enabling readers and researchers around the world to access this remarkable intellectual and cultural heritage online.