Coronavirus and Library services

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

Contact us by: 

• Email
• Library Chat (IM)
• Twitter
• Facebook

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.

Our building is open for LSE staff and students for the purpose of research and study.

Book a test in advance

Anyone coming to campus must be able to show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 4 days previously.

Book a COVID-19 test

Entering the Library

You do not need to book a space to enter the Library.

Upon entry you must provide Security with:

• proof you are a LSE student or member of staff
• proof of your negative 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. 

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.

We are currently unable to process any book returns.

Please renew and keep hold of items you currently have on loan. We will advertise when we can accept returned books again.

Contact us with any issues or concerns.

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 

• CORE - The world’s largest collection of open access research papers 
• Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) 
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) 
• JSTOR Open Access ebooks 

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

Due to the current situation with coronavirus, our archives and special collections can't be accessed.

Get in touch for 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 the Women’s Rights Collection and other digitised archives and books on LSE Digital Library. 
• Browse collections and freely download images from our Unsplash and Flickr pages. 
• Access thousands of pages in our Economic History Digital Collection.
• Explore Charles Booth’s London: Poverty Maps and Police Notebooks.

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.

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:

• undergraduate and master's students

• postgraduate research students and researchers

Follow these instructions for using Bloomberg remotely. 

Any problems? Contact the Data Library team.