Private collectors John Steegh and Harrie Teunissen from Dordrecht have donated their entire collection of maps, city plans and atlases to Leiden University Libraries (UBL). In almost 40 years they brought together circa 17,000 map sheets and 2,300 atlases and travel guides. Especially the thematic…

Almost 4400 anatomical drawings from the collections of Leiden University Libraries (UBL) are now available through Europeana. The collection shows medical art on paper from the early eighteenth century to the present day. Most of the drawings were created in or around the Leiden University Medical…

The IFLA-Section Rare Books and Special Collections committee and the Indigenous Matters Section, in collaboration with Leiden University Libraries (UBL) organize a satellite conference in Leiden – Friday August 18th and Saturday August 19th – prior to the IFLA World Library and Information Congress…

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) has made approximately 2300 old printed books and special editions available online through Digital Collections. With this, a small but important part of one of the oldest and most important collections of printed works in the Netherlands is now digitally available…

The collections of Leiden University Libraries (UBL) have been enriched with the Maktabat al-Yaman al-Amstirdāmīyah, or Amsterdam Yemen Library. This collection, which exists of about a thousand books, journals and maps, is the largest coherent Yemen collection in The Netherlands and was brought together…

UBL recently received a donation of some five hundred books on the Italian occupation of Libya and on Arabic linguistics. UBL gratefully acknowledges this donation by a Leiden University alumnus.

The Friends of Leiden University Libraries Foudation (Stichting Vrienden van de Universitaire Bibliotheken Leiden) is an active society that gladly supports the library. The Foundation contributes to purchases of special works and collections and regularly organises tours, lectures and other activities…

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) recently participated in the Pagode-Europeana-China project as an associated partner. As a result, almost two hundred items related to China from the UBL Special Collections are now available via the Europeana website. The UBL was the only library to participate in…

According to a rough estimate the western manuscripts collections and (private) archives contain some 500,000 letters, of which over 300,000 are catalogued. The letters kept in the University archives are not catalogued; the same holds for most letters kept in the oriental collections. They can be found…

Leiden University Libraries has made a large number of unofficial poetry journals from China accessible online in its Digital Collections. This opens up thousands of pages from an internationally unique collection of unofficial Chinese poetry for teaching, research, and the general public, including…

Over 30.000 pages of new material have been added to the online collection of unofficial poetry publications from China in the Leiden Digital Collections. Produced outside the system, these journals and books are hugely influential yet very hard to find. To address this paradox, Leiden University Libraries…

The photographs collection of Leiden University Librarie (UBL) contains specimens of almost all photographic processes from the history of the medium, rare objects and artistic highlights. Together, they shed light on the history of photography as a technique, a means of scientific, historic and personal…

In September 1321, exactly 700 years ago, one of Italy's most famous writers, Dante Alighieri, died as a Florentine exile in Ravenna. That makes 2021 a Dante year. Already during his lifetime, he was a famous writer. His current fame rests especially on the Divine Comedy, a long narrative poem describing…

In November, Leiden University Libraries (UBL) welcomed the first Lingling Wiyadharma Fellows in the Special Collections reading room. Fellows Chin Nyuk Tin, Evi Fuji Fauziyah and Arman AZ are all working on different research projects, yet their goals are the same: building bridges between Southeast…

Every year, the DIKTI-Leiden Fellowship programme offers three senior (postdoc) researchers affiliated with a state or private university in Indonesia the opportunity to conduct three months of research in the Leiden University Libraries (UBL) Special Collections.

The Lingling Wiyadharma Fellowship program offers the opportunity to three scholars to spend up to three months conducting research using the Southeast Asian and particularly the Indonesian special collections at Leiden University Libraries. The Lingling Wiyadharma Fellowship was made possible by Mr…

The complete Johan Huizinga, the single most important historian of the Netherlands, is now available worldwide through the new Huizinga Online website. Huizinga’s scholarly archive, his Verzamelde Werken and his correspondence have been made digitally accessible by Leiden University Libraries (UBL).…

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) is an internationally recognised research library with world-class collections and advanced services for education and research. The UBL provides these scholarly information services as a trusted partner in knowledge for researchers, teachers and students. We create…

The University Library (UB) offers guided group visits, introducing our collections and the rich history of the library.

Leiden University teachers wishing to stream audiovisual materials during online classes, can book the University Library's media room (ground floor) for this purpose.

UBL's collection exists to a large extent thanks to donations and financial support from private donors and funds.

Leiden University has several library locations. These libraries are part of one organisation: Leiden University Libraries (UBL). The UBL includes the University Library, the Social and Behavioural Sciences Library, the Law Library, the Science Library, the Asian Library, the NINO Library, the Walaeus…

The people behind the Leiden University Libraries aim to maintain the level of their services to clients as much as possible. They are making thankful use of internet, but not everything can be put online.

Part of the Leiden University Libraries’ (UBL) collections on Southeast Asia is now available in digital form for research, educational purposes and the general public. The collections consist of manuscripts, old prints, photos and maps of Southeast Asia, which have been made available via Digital Collections.…

In 2022, Leiden was European City of Science. During this year, Leiden presented a public programme brimming with science, knowledge, arts, and skills for anyone with a curious mind. Leiden University Libraries (UBL) organised an extensive programme of activities on the theme of Leiden European City…

Several of the most important manuscript collections in the Leiden University Libraries (UBL) Special Collections, comprising 443 extremely rare and often unique volumes, have been made available in Open Access via Digital Collections. The available manuscript collections include the private collections…

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) recently acquired a major collection of 19th-century photographs on South East Asia. The collection comprises more than 3,700 photographs of the Netherlands East Indies and mainland South East Asia, including Singapore, Myanmar, Penang and Malacca. The photographs are…

Close to twenty thousand pages of new material have been added to the online collection of unofficial poetry journals from China in the Leiden Digital Collections. Produced “outside the system,” these journals are hugely influential yet very hard to find. To address this paradox, Leiden University Libraries…

In its thematic programme ‘Oppression and Freedom’, Leiden University Libraries (UBL) explores views on identity, relations and the interaction between individuals and groups in the past. The programme features several exhibitions, workshops and lectures on the subject of oppression and freedom. In…

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) has been able to acquire an extraordinary Chinese manuscript at auction in Hong Kong. It concerns an Imperial Edict (dated 1582) from the Ming dynasty period, at one time part of the former collection of well-known sinologist and author of detective-novels Robert van…

With the thematic programme 'Student@University', Leiden University Libraries illuminates the rich past of the university and its students. Several online exhibitions, boekensalons and public lectures will be organised around this theme, especially for the interested public, and various blogs, videos…

From Wednesday 6 May onwards, the Leiden University Library (UB) Reading Room Special Collections will provide limited access to Leiden University researchers. While adhering to corona-related measures, researchers will again be able to use the Leiden Collections. The Reading Room Special Collections…

The core business of the UBL is providing information to staff and students of Leiden University and the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) for their educational and research tasks. Though staff and students of Leiden University and LUMC are the primary focus of the services of the UBL, others…

Are you looking for sources relevant to your studies? Check out our subject guides! There, our specialised subject librarians and information specialists will tell you more about search techniques, the use of databases, the assessment of information and much more.

The family of the famous diplomat, sinologist and writer Robert van Gulik has donated his personal archive and part of his collection to Leiden University Libraries (UBL). The collection and archive provide insight into the life and work of Robert van Gulik, who became known to the general public for…

Education, Library, Research

The American Chemical Society’s Publications Division (ACS) and VSNU, in its role representing Dutch universities and participating research institutions, have reached an agreement whereby open access publishing arrangements will be a part of the subscription licensing contract between the US-based…