The music library had its beginning as a small collection of sound recordings brought together for teaching and study within the Department of Fine Arts. When the new Music Building opened in 1965, composers’ complete works, historical sets of scores, other printed music, and reference books were transferred from the James D. Hoskins Library to the new building, to what was then called the Music Materials Center. The Music Library joined the University Libraries as an official branch on July 1, 1971. The department continued to fund the purchase of sound recordings and playback equipment for two years.
The music library was named for George F. DeVine, professor of music, on May 9, 1985, during the annual Library Friends and Benefactors reception at the McClung Museum, and the music library in the Natalie L. Haslam Music Building retains the designation.
Professor DeVine came to the new Department of Fine Arts along with its founding department head, David Van Vactor, in 1947. He served as copyist for Music Department Head David Van Vactor, then instructor in instrumentation and orchestration and professor of music history for a total of 38 years. He also wrote the program notes for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for 40 years.
The library was named for DeVine upon the occasion of his retirement to honor his longstanding commitment to building the library collection and fostering its use among his students. DeVine (1915–1999) was born in Chicago. Before coming to Knoxville, he performed as a bassoonist in a number of symphony orchestras, including the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony at its Ravinia Festivals, Kansas City Philharmonic, and National Symphony in Washington, DC.