Already in February 1996, Nedim Dagdeviren (1953-2007) with support from the Culture of the Future Foundation set on efforts to create the Kurdish Library. The news of the new library spread in the media as well. To realize the idea of a Kurdish library, Nedim Dagdeviren established a strong and broad network of contacts with the Swedes and the Kurds. With the help of the Kurds and friends of the Kurds, and with support from the Swedish State and the city of Stockholm and with the available materials, Nedim succeeded to estabish the Kurdish Library in Stockholm. Skeppsholmen became its first headquarters. The then Swedish Minister of Culture Marita Ulvskog inaugurated the library on the 10th of October 1997. Many well-known Swedish and Kurdish people attended the opening ceremony.

Kurdish Library began as a project in two years. Association of Kurdish Library Friends (AKLF) took care of the library"s finances in the two years. On August 25th, 1999, the library was registered as a foundation at the County Council and was named "The Kurdish Library Foundation”. The board of this foundation was composed of Swedish and Kurdish organizations. The first members were the chairman Kalli Klement from AKLF, Vice President Kaya Izol from Kurdish National Association, secretary and library director Nedim Dagdeviren, Ulla-Britt Nordin-Sieholds from the Swedish Library Association, Folke Sandgren from the Swedish Royal Library and Martin van Bruinessen from the reference group.

The composition of the board and of the reference group changed over the years. Folke Sandgren retired and was replaced on March 5, 2001 by Lars Olsson. He has also retired and no one has yet replaced him. Ulla-Britt Nordin-Sieholds from the Swedish Library Association passed away in September 2003 and was replaced by Anna Gustafsson Chen. Anna Gustafsson Chen left the board in December 2008 and Margareta Berg has taken her position. Kalli Klement became Chief Director of Sweden’s Art Associations in Malmö in 2004 and therefore could not continue her duties as Chairman of the Kurdish Library Foundation. This mission went to Ove Rådberg after he was elected as chairman of the AFKL. The same year, Kaya Izol was replaced by the new chairman of the Kurdish National Association Aycan Sermin Bozarslan. After the library"s founder and director Nedim Dagdeviren died on March 2nd, 2007, Newzad Hirori became director of the Kurdish Library, and consenquently the secretary of the Board.

The reference group consisted from the very beginning of these members: Joyce Blau (France), Martin van Bruinessen (Holland), Michael Chyet (USA), Mirella Galetti (Italy), Amir Hassanpour (Canada), Johannes Meyer-Ingwersen (Germany), Philip Kreyenbroek (Germany), Izzedin Mustafa Resul (Kurdistan) and Omar Seikhmous (Sweden). After a few years, Shakir Khido (Russia) and Shukur Mustafa (Kurdish) replaced the members John Meyer-Ingwersen and Omar Seikhmous. Shukur Mustafa died in 2004 and Shakir Khido died 2007. Martin van Bruinessen ended his membership in 2005 due to time constraints. These changes weakened the reference group"s role and function. Therefore, the Library board decided in June 2007 to dismantle the group and appoint instead a kurdolog. Now Annsofi Lindberg, who wrote her thesis about the Kurdish Library, is a member of the library board.

Last year, Anna Gustafsson-Chen ended her duties in the board and has been replaced by Margareta Berg, director of Botkyrka libraries.