Coronavirus and Library services

Get help from Library staff

We are available 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday to support you.

Basic queries at the service desk

Library staff are available Monday to Friday, 11am to 3pm at the service desk to answer basic enquiries.

Meet with a librarian

A librarian can also meet you in-person to discuss searching for literature and referencing for assignments, dissertations and exams.

Book an in-person appointment with a librarian

If you need help using the Library and its resources, you should contact your department librarian first. They can provide support remotely. They can assist you with:

finding the resources on your reading list
finding resources for your assignments
finding data and other specialist information.
citing and referencing enquiries

Contact a librarian to discuss.

You can also contact specialists on publishing, data management and research impact. Explore our research support guides.

The Library building and study space

Our building is open 24/7 for LSE staff and students for the purpose of research and study. You do not need to book a space to enter.

The busiest time is between 2pm and 5pm.

If you want to avoid queueing to enter, we suggest visiting outside of these hours.

COVID testing

Staff and students must get tested twice a week while working or studying on campus, in line with government guidance.

Book a COVID-19 test

Library services and environment

single use, socially distanced study spaces on all floors
computer workstations and printers
physical collections and borrowing available
group study spaces are not available
food is not allowed
masks to be worn at all times

While you are in the Library

wear a face covering at all times
maintain social distancing
follow all current LSE guidance around visiting campus.

If you come across any issues while in the Library, contact us.

Using our collections

LSE staff and students can borrow our open access print collections if they need to.

Use the self-service machines to borrow books.
Chat to us if you have any problems with borrowing.
You can also email us for assistance.

Return books by leaving them on the trolleys in the Escape area before the turnstiles.

If you don't want to enter the Library, post them through the external drop box.

Items will be quarantined for 72 hours and then discharged from your account.

We have been able to secure additional resources to help you with your online learning, research and teaching.

New and improved resources for LSE staff and students

JSTOR - enhanced access to all JSTOR Archive and Primary Source collections covering all areas of social sciences and humanities.
Coronavirus Research Database.
S&P Capital IQ - financial data, analytics, and research.
Elsevier - Novel Coronavirus Information Center.

Access a range of resources wherever you are in the world; including JSTOR, Project Muse, Sage Journals.

Find out about online resources for LSE Alumni

Free/Open Access resources

COVID-19 research available to all

JSTOR - 26 journal archives in Public Health
Oxford University Press
Royal Society
Taylor and Francis
Wiley Online Library
Brill
Cochrane Library
Digital Science
Emerald
Microbiology Society
MIT Press - Pandemics and Epidemiology
Sage Journals
Springer Nature

Our Reading Room is not currently open and archives and special collections aren't available.

The earliest we expect this to change is the 21 June in line with the national easing of restrictions. However, LSE is closely following government guidelines and a decision won't be made until much nearer to that date. It is also likely that we will still see a phased return to opening and priority may still be given to LSE researchers during the summer.

Provided the government roapmap remains on track, please check back in mid-June when we hope to be able to update further.

Get in touch for further advice.

In the meantime, you can still access our digitised collections, or explore our collection highlights to find out more about our archives and special collections.

Our team of curators can help you according to their area of expertise.

You can also send us any general enquiries, and we'll do our best to help.

Online exhibitions and collections

Take a look at our Google Arts and Culture online exhibits. Including stories of the women's suffrage movement, and LGBTQ+ activism.
Explore our digitised archives on the legacy digital library and our new digital library.
Browse collections and freely download images from our Unsplash and Flickr pages.
Explore Charles Booth’s London: Poverty Maps and Police Notebooks.

Access material not available through LSE Library

If you can't access something that you need, let us know.

The Get It For Me 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.

Doing research under the current circumstances

We are aware that in the current circumstances some researchers aren't able to access some of the secure datasets they need for their research (eg ONS data). The Library, Research and Innovation and Cyber Security are working together to identify the researchers affected and investigate potential solutions.

If you are facing issues for your research projects, please get in touch via datalibrary@lse.ac.uk in the first instance. We can then work with you and data providers to provide support.

As students and researchers are no longer able to conduct face-to-face data collection, new guidance has been produced to provide advice and tips for doing online data collection.

Please see our guides for: