All Leiden University Libraries' locations are accessible to people with disabilities or health impairments. Our staff will be happy to assist all visitors requiring specific assistance navigating the library buildings or services.

The Asian special collections comprise tens of thousands of rare books, thousands of manuscripts, maps, prints, drawings and photographs, and hundreds of archives.

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Computer Science.

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…

The collection Prints, Drawings and Portraits comprises over 100,000 prints, 12,000 drawings and 30,000 portraits.

Visiting address Postal address Gorlaeus Building Einsteinweg 55 2333 CC Leiden +31 71 527 43 66 / 43 67 Science Library P.O. Box 9502 2300 RA Leiden

Are you a researcher looking to intensively use our library collections? Book one of our dedicated workplaces.

Workshops, lectures

Leiden University owns extensive collections of portraits. These include around a hundred painted portraits of scholars, librarians and professors and around 30,000 prints of scholars, politicians, rulers, artists, writers and other persons of fame. A smaller partial collection is that of writers, belonging…

The Centre for Digital Scholarship offers training on research data management (RDM). Topics include Data Management Plans, FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data, and publishing and archiving data.

There are several excellent options for teachers and researchers to engage students and other audiences with primary sources. Either by requesting items from the Special Collections for use during lectures or by integrating our educational resources into your lesson plans.

Do you have books, manuscripts, and other materials and are considering donating them to UBL? If so, please get in touch with us.

Welcome to Leiden University Libraries!

Course reserve shelves are a convenient way to temporarily group library materials together, for use inside the library.

The Western manuscript, archival and letter collections consist of books and documents written in Latin, Greek and Cyrillic script.

Scanners, copiers and printers are available at all of our library locations.

Any questions regarding the Leiden University Libraries (UBL) or our services?

Training

From as little as €45.00 per year, Friends enjoy special benefits. As a Friend you: support the UBL financially. The foundation of Friends regularly contributes to the purchase of a unique items or make a financial contribution to the organisation of exhibitions; become part of a network of…

The main focus of the Islamic World Special Collections is on the Middle East and North Africa, with smaller holdings from Indonesia, the Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia as far as Xinjiang, China.

Leiden University Libraries' favourite tools to facilitate your online work and research.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has introduced itself into everyone's lives. Naturally, Leiden University Libraries also has to address the development of AI. In this subject guide, we will give a short introduction to (Gen)AI and its effects on the university library. This subject guide has also been…

Searching for relevant scholarly information can be a challenge. These tutorials can help you navigating the catalogue and other databases.

The Asian Library holds the largest collection on Indonesia worldwide, and some of the foremost collections on South and Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Korea.

Subject librarians and Medical Information specialists employ general criteria when evaluating titles to be added or removed from the collections, some criteria having greater or lesser importance depending on subject area.

Publishing and sharing information has become more accessible. How can you judge whether or not a publication or an internet site is trustworthy? Here you will find some useful leads to help you judge information.

The Executive Board has decided that Leiden University will endorse Open Access.

The Middle Eastern Special Collections form the nucleus of the entire range of Oriental heritage collections of Leiden University Libraries.

From July 2025 to March 2026, various major renovations will take place in the University Library. Both the transparent domes, the skylight between both halls and the installations for air treatment and heating will be replaced. This will allow the University Library to be cooled and heated more sustainably…

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in German language and culture.

Visiting address Postal address Witte Singel 27 2311 BG Leiden 071 - 5272814 (General) 071 - 5272857 (Special Collections) Postbus 9501 2300 RA Leiden Courier services Witte Singel 27 2311 BG Leiden Goods deliveries Maliebaan 30 2311 CC Leiden

Leiden is a knowledge hub, unique in its kind in the Netherlands, for academics, professionals, students and all other people who are specialized or interested in photography. The city and university offer:

The Bibliotheca Thysiana Fellowship keeps alive the memory of the young lawyer and book collector and bibliophile Joannes Thysius (1622-1653).

Conditions are attached to the use of information sources (databases) provided by UBL.

The Special Collections of Leiden University Libraries contain a world-renowned and vast collection of old prints, manuscripts, archives, prints, drawings and photography. Our collections are accessible to Leiden researchers and students, as well as external researchers and other interested parties.

The research suggestions below may be suitable for a bachelor's or master's thesis or can be used as additional source material in ongoing research.

In September 2024, Leiden University Libraries (UBL) will dispose of a collection of dissertations from foreign universities published after 1850. This allows us to make room for new acquisitions.

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…

Explanation and background of Dutch copyright

CDS staff cooperate with colleagues from Leiden and other universities and libraries in giving training sessions, workshops, and presentations. They have (co)authored a diverse set of publications dealing with Digital Scholarship.

The Chinese Special Collections are part of the Asian Library. Items can be consulted at the Special Collections Reading Room.

With its more than 1400 bindings and over a thousand fragments Leiden’s collection of medieval manuscripts (up to ca. 1550) is the largest in the Netherlands.

Do you use our Interlibrary Loan Service to obtain books, chapters and/or articles from another library? From 28 January we will be moving on to a new application system.

Leiden University teachers that have requested course reserves for students at Leiden University Libraries (UBL), or have made books non-lendable for educational purposes, now have four ways to offer these materials to students at home.

In his leaving interview, Martijn Ridderbos doesn’t have to think long when asked what he is most proud of. ‘Bringing people together; creating things together. Reducing the gap between researchers and the staff who support them because the latter are essential. We’ve achieved that and the seeds have…

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

As soon as your thesis has been approved, you will be asked to upload your final version to the Student Repository. The Repository is an online archive for Leiden University theses. You can send all questions regarding your upload to the repository to your Education administration office.

Welcome to Leiden University Libraries (UBL).

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Criminology