Inter-Library Loans

LSE staff and students can use the Inter-Library Loans service if the material needed for your research is not held by the Library.

This is a free service which allows you to borrow material from libraries across the world, giving you access to a diverse range of material including: 

• books
• journal articles
• theses

To request an Inter-Library Loan:

1. Find out as much as possible about the material. The most important details are the title and author.
2. From Library Search, select Interlending at the top of the screen to access the interlending request form. Sign in with your LSE username and password. 
3. Select Book or Article and complete the key details.
4. Monitor the progress of your interlending request through your Library account on Library Search. 

Picking up or returning material

If you need to pick up or return material then you can do this:

• Monday to Friday 10.30am to 5pm
• At the Women's Library Reading Room on the fourth floor 

Loanable items will be issued to your Library borrower account. Articles can be collected and are then yours to keep. 

Journal articles

• Most journal articles are now supplied electronically. 
• You will need to register to download articles supplied by the British Library. You will be sent an email containing a link via which you can download the article and instructions on how to do this. You will only need to do register once.  
• If the Library receives a paper copy of the article it will be held at the  service counter to be collected.

Please note that you may only request one article from an issue of a journal.

If you need more than one article from an issue of a journal you will have to request the whole issue. 

PhD theses

Access UK PhD online via EThOS. 

Access foreign theses through ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global

If the thesis you need has not been digitised then place a request through the Interlending request form using the books category. 

There may be a long wait for theses to become accessible. Consider contacting the author or visiting the holding institution if possible.

Information for external libraries requesting our material 

Lending Policy in brief

We do not lend journals but may lend books with the location Main Collection, Government Publications or Intergovernmental Organisations. We may be able to supply photocopies of journal articles.

We offer a limited service as a library of last resort. Requests from libraries within the UK will be considered and libraries outside the UK who have an account with the British Library (with a billing and location code) will be considered. We are not currently providing this service to libraries from the rest of the world. If you are unable to obtain the material from other locations, please place “library of last resort” in the title of your request and email library.idd@lse.ac.uk providing the following information:

• Your British Library Billing Code
• Request reference
• Your request details (Title, Author etc.)
• Your British Library Location Code

Conditions of loan

Items are loaned for up to 6 weeks. All loans are subject to recall. To renew items please email library.idd@lse.ac.uk.

Lending fees

We charge current British Library prices.