Borrowing books
LSE staff and students can borrow our open access print collections.
Use the self-service machines to borrow books and chat to us if you need to.
How long can I borrow books for?
LSE staff and students can borrow:
- Course Collection items for 7 days
- Main Collection items for 90 days
How many books can I borrow in total?
LSE staff and researchers can borrow 50 books.
LSE undergraduates and postgraduates can borrow 30 books.
Returning books
Return books using the self-service machines on the ground floor of the Library.
If you don't want to enter the Library, post them through the external drop box.
Request books out on loan
Books are shared across all readers and our teaching collections can be in high demand. To ensure the fair circulation of material we have a process where LSE staff and students can request a book that is on loan to another reader.
When a book you have searched for is on loan it will show on Library Search as:
Checked out from LSE Library [collection, classmark]
To place a request on the book:
1. Sign in to My Library Account.
2. Search for a book.
3. Click on the book to display the record of the item.
4. In the 'Get it' section of the record click the request option.
5. Fill in any relevant information in the short form.
6. Submit your request by clicking the green request option.
We will email you when the item is ready for you to collect. This process can take 7 days but is dependent on the prompt return of books by borrowers.
Requests can be placed on any borrowable items - Main Collection and Course Collection books - that are on loan and when there aren't any other copies available.
Access material not available through LSE Library
If you can't access something that you need, let us know through the 'Get It For Me' service.
This service is for when you want articles, chapters or ebooks that are not available in our collection.
Find out how to use the Get It For Me service
We aren't able to order print titles at the moment, but if what you want is available electronically then we should be able to get you access.
Need any help?
If you need any help, contact us.