British Library of Political and Economic Science

The British Library of Political and Economic Science sits in the heart of Westminster, on the London School of Economics campus. It occupies the Lionel Robbins Building, a former WH Smith warehouse opened in 1916 and converted into a library in 1978. The site handles about 5,000 daily visits from students and staff, while its specialist collections serve more than 12,000 external researchers each year. Founded in 1896, the library was created to give serious students the research materials they lacked in Britain. Today it is the UK’s national social-science library, collecting works in all major European languages from around the world. The library’s holdings include over four and a half million items spread across more than 50 kilometres of shelving. It keeps 31,000 journal titles, subscribes to 15,000 e-journals, and acts as a depository for United Nations, OECD, ILO and other international organisations. Its archives contain unique treasures such as Charles Booth’s poverty maps, now on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. The Women’s Library and rich collections on LGBT activism, British politics and early left-wing thought are also preserved here. Much of this material can be viewed freely online through platforms like the LSE Digital Library and LSE Research Online. Inside the Lionel Robbins Building visitors find a light-filled atrium topped by a glazed dome that directs daylight deep into the floors below. The 20,000-square-metre space offers 1,700 study places, 450 networked PCs and 226 laptop drop-in points. Three termly exhibitions in a free display area showcase parts of the collection. A £35 million redevelopment by Foster and Partners, completed in 2001, won a Civic Trust Award the following year. A second upgrade in 2007 added more study spaces, self-service facilities and a larger course collection.