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When he founded the library, Thierry de Vitry, the second abbot of Orval from 1145 - 1152, organized exchanges of precious manuscripts with other monasteries so that they could be copied by the monks in their scriptorium (copying room). Prior to the invention of the printing press, that was the only way of disseminating the written word, as shown in the historical research done for the Principality of Liege by the monk Gilles d'Orval, who died in 1251.

That explains the range of artistic influences observed in the preserved manuscripts. In spite of pillages and fires at the abbey in 1252, 1637 and 1793, many manuscripts have been preserved to this day.

With the reform of the 17th century the growth in the community required the building of a new wing beyond the cloister. On the ground floor, a new refectory was fitted out and the former refectory was partially transformed into a reading room. The upper floor was occupied by the library and the latrines, located right above the river channelled to the basement of the monastic enclosure. A tower cutting the southeast gable housed the archives. The novices' quarters were located at the end of the wing.