Skip to main content

Library collections policy

Our collections are internationally recognised for their outstanding importance. Learn about our policy, strategy and criteria for acquiring material.

Introduction

As LSE Library and the British Library of Political and Economic Science (BLPES), we select, acquire, catalogue and manage material to support teaching, learning and research at LSE, while also building and maintaining collections of national significance in the social sciences. Our collections have been developed over the last 130 years and have particular strengths in Economics, Political Science, Law, Finance and History, acquired from and focusing on, all regions of the world.

This policy outlines our collection development and management decisions and covers the entire lifecycle of published material, from selection and acquisition to cataloguing and management. We will regularly review and improve our practices; therefore, this collections policy will be a dynamic working document that changes according to circumstances and need.

Academic freedom, equity and responsible curation

LSE Library is committed to supporting academic freedom. Our collections are developed and maintained to enable research, teaching and learning across a wide range of subjects, perspectives and approaches, including those that are contested, challenging or controversial.

As a research library, we recognise that collections are shaped by the historical, social and institutional contexts in which they were formed. As a result, they may reflect patterns of exclusion, imbalance or omission that have affected scholarship, publishing and collecting over time. We acknowledge that some material in the collections contains language, imagery or viewpoints that reflect the attitudes of their time and may be harmful or distressing to some users.

The inclusion of material within the Library’s collections does not imply endorsement of the views, language or assumptions it contains. Such material may be essential for understanding historical contexts, academic debates and the development of ideas. The Library does not exclude, restrict or remove material solely because of disagreement with the views it expresses, or because those views may be considered unpopular, offensive or contentious.

The Library has a responsibility to curate its collections thoughtfully and transparently. Where appropriate, we will support informed and critical engagement with our collections through accurate description and contextual information. Decisions about the selection, retention or withdrawal of material are based on academic relevance and value, rather than on ideological or political judgement.

In developing and managing our collections, we aim to support the full breadth of the LSE community by seeking to improve the diversity, accessibility and representativeness of the

material we hold. This includes taking steps to identify areas of under-representation within the collections, and to address this over time where this supports the academic and research priorities of LSE and aligns with the Library’s collecting remit.

Our approach is shaped through ongoing engagement with academic departments, students and professional colleagues. We recognise that responsible curation of a research collection involves both preserving access in support of academic freedom and acknowledging the potential impact of material on users. This is an ongoing process of review and reflection, not a fixed outcome.

Criteria of selection

We select and collect material in the social sciences in the broadest sense to support the teaching and research priorities of LSE and beyond.

Teaching

The online reading list system enables teaching staff to create online reading lists so students can easily access their readings, whether online or in print. We acquire all books and journal articles required on taught courses, where possible, prioritising online access, or print where this is the only format available.

Print books indicated as essential reading for students on reading lists are located in the Course Collection on the first floor of the Library. These are short loan books (7 days), only available for LSE students and staff. Print books indicated as background reading for students on reading lists are located in the Main Collection (these can be borrowed for 90 days and can be used by all LSE users).

Research

We acquire books, journals and other resources for wider social sciences research for the benefit of all of our users, including alumni and visitors, as part of our remit as a national research library. All current LSE staff and students with a valid Library account can use our Get It For Me service to recommend resources for the Library to purchase. We will only hold research titles in either print or electronic (users have the option to recommend their preferred format for new titles). We also acquire resources across the year that support our collection strengths and bridge collections gaps, as funds allow.

Acquisition and subscription of resources

We acquire and subscribe to resources with the following aims:

  • providing sufficient multiple copies/licences to meet demand
  • ensuring that all online resources are easily accessible
  • ensuring that students’ experience of online reading list provision is consistent across all departments and courses and advising them to adhere to recommended best practice for online reading lists
  • prioritising online access where appropriate and where it provides the widest audience with the resources they need; particularly with journal subscriptions, although decision-making will often be based on cost or long-term access
  • we will cancel subscriptions to resources that have low usage or demonstrate little relevance to teaching and research, to free up funds for new resources

To meet these aims when acquiring material, we will:

  • make use of national consortia framework and other national agreements
  • use a mix of acquisition and supply models
  • take a demand-driven and evidence-based approach
  • improve accessibility of material
  • regularly review subscriptions and ensure they meet current teaching, learning and research needs and anticipate future needs. The Library will consult with academic departments when considering cancellations but will make final budgetary decisions

Donations

On occasion we acquire books and other print materials as donations, and most archive collections are acquired as gifts from the creator or owner. Due to space constraints and cataloguing capacity, we minimise the number of donations accepted. We will prioritise donations from within the LSE community and those which reflect our collection strengths. Book donations will be absorbed into the Main Collection, whilst archives will be managed accordingly.

Cataloguing of resources

We aim to catalogue materials in an inclusive way and endorse and apply the Cataloguing Code of Ethics.

We catalogue library collections to international standards and make use of Library of Congress Name and Subject vocabularies and Library of Congress classification and Dewey Decimal Classification. The historic nature of these standards means that they have a white, western and male perspective and contain some terminology which is not inclusive.

The international use of these standards across academic institutions means that we are not unique in the issues this raises. Local and manual solutions for non-inclusive language are not likely to be practical or possible to maintain, so where possible we will engage in discussion and collaborative solutions on an international level. When changes are made on an international level, we will reflect these in Library Search where appropriate.

We catalogue archival collections in line with national and international standards. Archival materials may contain outdated or problematic attitudes and language. We aim to describe this material in a respectful and inclusive way without erasing or hiding its problematic history, in line with emerging professional protocols.

Management of resources

Open access storage of our collections is nearly at capacity, therefore an important part of managing our collections is stock editing, which involves relegating material to offsite storage, or withdrawing it from stock according to the item’s status as either flagship, heritage, teaching and research, or low priority.

In deciding the most appropriate location for each collection, the following factors are considered:

  • security and preservation requirements
  • frequency of use
  • ease of discovery
  • ease of retrieval
  • accuracy of shelving
  • access for collection management
  • accruing collections

An ongoing programme of stock editing is undertaken as necessary. Items will be reviewed for withdrawal where they are:

  • superseded editions
  • multiple copies (except where required for teaching)
  • items that no longer support current school research and teaching
  • available in a secure electronic format
  • damaged beyond repair and do not merit replacement

Withdrawn stock is offered to charities, from whom we may receive a percentage of the sell-on profit.

Items will be retained if they:

  • have significant associations with LSE
  • are included in a contractual or collaborative agreement
  • reflect our commitment to developing more diverse and inclusive collections

We are a participant in the United Kingdom Research Reserve (UKRR), a collaborative national research collection of periodicals. Print copies of journals are withdrawn from stock where we have guaranteed access to the electronic backfile.

We are also a Receiving Member of the UK Print Book Collection (UK PBC), which ensures the preservation of and access to shared print holdings in the UK for current and future users. The scheme relies on member libraries working together to retain sufficient copies and maintain continued access to content. It is supported by RLUK, SCONUL, and the British

Library, and is underpinned by the National Bibliographic Knowledgebase operated by Jisc. Participating members are required to check their holdings against national holdings when editing print book stock, and Receiving Members agree to consider print books from other libraries.

*Page last updated June 2026*