LSE Library

LSE Library. The London School of Economics library is a major academic library, serving the London School of Economics and Political Science community, including Nobel laureates such as Amartya Sen, George Akerlof, and Leonard Hobhouse. The library's collections and services support research in the social sciences, including economics, politics, sociology, anthropology, and geography, with notable works by Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim. The library is located in the heart of London, near Aldwych, Temple Bar, and Covent Garden, and is accessible to students and staff from University of London institutions, including University College London, King's College London, and Queen Mary University of London.

History

The London School of Economics library was founded in 1896 by Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb, with support from Charles Booth and Graham Wallas. The library's early collections included works by John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham, and Harriet Martineau, and were influenced by the Fabian Society and the Cooperative movement. The library moved to its current location in 1978, and has since undergone several renovations, including a major refurbishment in 2001 supported by The Leverhulme Trust and The Nuffield Foundation. The library's history is closely tied to the development of the social sciences in the United Kingdom, with notable contributions from Harold Laski, Ralph Miliband, and Nicos Poulantzas.

Collections

The LSE Library collections include over 4 million items, including books, journals, newspapers, and archives, with a strong focus on the social sciences and humanities. The library's collections are particularly strong in the areas of economics, with works by John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, and Joseph Schumpeter, and politics, with works by Karl Popper, Isaiah Berlin, and Hannah Arendt. The library also holds significant collections of rare books and manuscripts, including the Charles Booth Archive and the Fabian Society Archive, which provide valuable insights into the history of socialism and the labour movement. The library's collections are complemented by those of the British Library of Political and Economic Science, which is located on the LSE campus and includes works by Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Thomas Malthus.

Facilities

The LSE Library is located in a purpose-built building on the LSE campus, with over 20,000 square metres of study space and 1,700 study places. The library is open 24/7 during term time, and offers a range of facilities, including silent study areas, group study rooms, and computer labs, equipped with software from Microsoft, Adobe, and SPSS. The library also offers disability support services, including assistive technology and accessible study spaces, and is committed to providing an inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students, including those from Birkbeck, University of London, Goldsmiths, University of London, and Royal Holloway, University of London.

Services

The LSE Library offers a range of services to support student learning and research, including information skills training, reference services, and interlibrary loan services, which provide access to materials from other libraries, including the British Library and the National Library of Scotland. The library also offers subject support from experienced librarians, who can provide guidance on finding and using relevant resources, including databases from JSTOR, EBSCO, and ProQuest, and e-journals from Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Sage Publications. The library's services are designed to support the research lifecycle, from literature review to thesis submission, and are informed by the latest developments in library and information science, including the work of S.R. Ranganathan and Jesse Shera.

Digital Library

The LSE Library digital library provides access to a wide range of electronic resources, including e-books, e-journals, and databases, which can be accessed on and off campus using Athens authentication and Shibboleth authentication. The library's digital collections include online archives of The Economist, The Financial Times, and The Guardian, as well as digital repositories of LSE research output, including theses and working papers from the LSE Centre for Economic Performance and the LSE Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion. The library's digital library is designed to support flexible and remote learning, and is an essential resource for students and staff who need to access library materials from Imperial College London, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge.