Looking for a book? Materials within the Leiden University Libraries (UBL) collection are (mostly) arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification.

A new memorial stone on the facade of a student house in the Hugo de Grootstraat is a reminder of the dozens of Indonesian students who studied in Leiden before and during the Second World War. Some of them were active in the Resistance, which cost a number of them their lives.

Resources for searching Open Access articles, journals and books

Library staff will select, acquire, catalogue and manage materials to support teaching, learning and research at Leiden University. We aim to have all required study literature available online or in print at the beginning of the semester. Do you think that some titles are missing? Contact your…

The UBL provides access to an endless collection printed and online journal articles

If an item is not available at Leiden University Libraries (UBL), you can try and obtain it directly from another library, request it using ILL services, or suggest items for purchase.

The African Library is located on the ground floor of the new Herta Mohr Building at Witte Singel.

Two Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) have been placed in front of the University Library in memory of the Jewish Cosman family. At the time of the Second World War, they lived in one of the houses where the library is now located.

The Middle Eastern Library is located on the ground floor of the new Herta Mohr Building at Witte Singel.

We understand that starting a new study program can be quite overwhelming, with all the information coming your way. So, here you'll find just the most important things. Questions? Just ask at the library desk or send us a message!

A collection consists of items and parts that have been collected by one or more individuals or institutions not responsible for their formation. An archive has been created by one or more individuals or institutions.

Are you curious about how the human skeleton works? Discover this and more on 3 October in Leiden and on 4 October in The Hague.

With its FestivOWL theme, Orientation Week Leiden (OWL) promises to be one big festival for new international students in Leiden.

'The chance of a pandemic is small, but not zero,' according to Nikki Ikani, assistant professor of intelligence and security. She warns in various media outlets about the ignored signals and the facilitated mutations, calling it 'alarming that mammals can also contract it.'

In this FAQ we try to answer a selection of the most important questions on research data management that we compiled over the last 5 years.

The Leiden University Libraries (UBL) catalogue contains millions of (e-)books, (e-)journals, manuscripts, letters, and other materials available at the UBL.

Castles, monasteries and bridges, but also city profiles, history prints and water management works. Leiden University Libraries (UBL) manages one of the most important collections of topographical images in the Netherlands. The collection, bequested to UBL by Johannes Tiberius Bodel Nijenhuis (1797-1872)…

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Chinese Studies

AI in major academic databases, such as EBSCO, Elsevier, and JSTOR explained: what can these tools be used for – and where do they fall short?

‘What if we switch off all the lights one evening? That idea crossed my mind from time to time. And when I mentioned it to a taxi driver one day, he said: “Oh, you mean: lights out, stars on!” That’s not completely true, of course, because the stars are always on, but his phrase summed up the idea n…

Over hundreds of thousands of years, our region witnessed the comings and goings of various types of hominin. This depended on the temperature as ice ages alternated with warmer periods. In ‘De eerste mensen in de Lage Landen’ (‘The First Humans in the Low Countries’) Leiden archaeologists Yannick Raczynski-Henk…

Rembrandt Year is concluding with a major exhibition at Museum De Lakenhal. There are still numerous other activities such as lectures, the University Rembrandt Route and the screening of a critical documentary.

Lawyer, economist, politician and women’s rights activist Lizzy van Dorp is the 100th entry in our Top 450. Who or what is your favourite?

During the award ceremony of the Christiaan Huygens Prize on 16 October, mathematician Rosa Schwarz received an honourable mention. Schwarz, former PhD candidate of the Mathematical Institute, received the mention for her dissertation ‘Logarithmic approach to the double ramification cycle’.

Alumni who live and work in Brussels met on 18 February at the annual Leiden Alumni in Brussels Event. As well as celebrating Leiden University’s 450th anniversary, they also looked at the challenges Europe faces.

Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker will head a delegation that is visiting Indonesia at the end of June. The visit is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Leiden’ institute KITLV-Jakarta. What does this institute do and why is Indonesia important to the University?

From experimental essays to comfort reads, and from manga to court literature in verse: Japanese literature has it all.

Historians recently started preliminary research on Leiden University’s role in colonialism and historical slavery. Our knowledge about this is too limited and fragmented. They are looking with fresh eyes at Leiden’s archives and collections. An interview with historians Alicia Schrikker and Ligia G…

Overview of databases, reference works and websites in western languages for research in Comparative Philosophy

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Middle Eastern Studies

The collections of Leiden University Libraries (UBL) not only hold academic material, but also many novels, collections of poetry, non-fiction works and even cookbooks. Is there still some space on your summer reading list? Take a look at the list below and borrow your book through the UBL.

On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom officially left the European Union. New regulations, agreed upon by both parties took effect on 1 January 2021. What impact did Brexit have politically? Do British and European citizens now have different opinions of one another? And why did the Brits want to leave…

There is a reasonable chance that you came to this reading list through a social medium. Now it's our job to keep your attention. We are going to do our best. There are so many distractions; from notifications on your phone, to another screen near you, that may also be screaming for attention. Every…