The Duffield Branch was named after Divie B. Duffield, who served as a member and president of the Detroit Library Commission 1904-1915 and 1920-1935. The Duffield Branch opened to the public on November 24, 1916, and was one of the Detroit library branches built with Carnegie funds.

Some of the special services and programs this branch offers include a computer lab, a collection of approximately 500 music CDs and a Friends group (one of the oldest in the Detroit Public Library system, dating back to the 1940s).