Various University locations have extended their opening hours during the upcoming exam period to give you more chance to study. The cafés have also extended their opening hours.

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) recently issued a new collection policy plan, containing priorities for the coming years regarding the formation, management, availability, and use of the UBL collection.

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

The interface of the Leiden University Libraries (UBL) Catalogue has been updated. Thanks to a fresh and modern design, users have a better experience when consulting the collections.

In the course of over four centuries the book collections have been greatly enlarged thanks to the bequests and grants or the purchases from the propriety of scholars or private collectors. Sometimes it concerned collections with thousands of early printed books, such as the purchase of the library…

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…

A large group of researchers from Leiden University will convene a panel or present a paper at the 10th European Conference on African Studies (ECAS), which will take place from 25 to 28 June in Prague.

A discount on textbooks is always welcome. But for these students joining a study association has meant much more than that alone.

Over the centuries painters and photographers have depicted students at study in Leiden. An exhibition at the Hortus botanicus reveals the similarities and differences in 450 years of student life.

Northern Yemen; a highland region often in the news as the center of the Houthi regime, has a political, social, and intellectual history spanning more than a millennium. This exhibition showcases some of the findings of the Early Modern State Development in Yemen project, based at Leiden University,…

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) would like to invite you for the symposium Rediscovered: new technologies on historical artifacts on Friday 16 November, from 10.00-18.00. The symposium will be held in the Vossius room of the UBL at Witte Singel 27.

Alumnus Anoma van der Veere did Japanese studies and talks in this interview about his studies in Leiden and his work as a researcher at the Leiden Asia Centre and as Japanese correspondent in Tokyo.

Overview of the Scaliger, Brill, Elsevier, Van de Sande, Juynboll, Drewes, Isaac Alfred Ailion, Arminius, Van Gulik and Lingling Wiyadharma Fellows who have conducted research in the Special Collections of the University Library.

Over 600 manuscripts and early prints have been made digitally available by Leiden University Libraries (UBL) via the Europeana platform. In the project 'The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages’ (ARMA), seven European heritage institutions added 30,000 digitised medieval items to Europeana’s database…

As of February 1st, 2018, Sarah de Rijcke has been appointed as Professor of Science, Technology and Innovation Studies, especially Science and Evaluation Studies, at Leiden University. The chair is located at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS).

This subject guide is a work in progress, aimed to provide access to relevant academic works and online resources on Palestine and Israel, as well as, documentaries, films, and literature to familiarize yourself with the complexities of the conflict.

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.

The ICAS Book Prize (IBP) is one of the most prestigious book awards in the field of Asian Studies. The prizes were awarded in Kyoto, Japan at the 2021 International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS). As the proud sponsor of the ICAS Book Prize, Leiden University Libraries/Asian Library congratulate…

The Chola Plates, currently in the possession of Leiden University, will be returned to India. This has been decided by the Executive Board. The restitution of this heritage follows the advice of the (national) Colonial Collections Committee.

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…

Which roles did books have in prayer in the late Middle Ages? What did the interaction with these books by readers and users look like? And how can we see this reflected in the books that were handed down?

2020 will go down in the history books as an eventful year. The traces left by the coronavirus this year will remain, for students as well as staff at Leiden Law School. A review of the year in photos and videos.

Since the demonstration over a year ago on the Wijnhaven campus, Leiden University has developed plans and initiatives to create the safest possible work and study environment for our university community. The Executive Board would like to explain what has happened since and what else we can expect…

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) has made approximately 200.000 digitised books, maps, photographs and other materials available in Digital Collections via the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF). IIIF offers researchers and lecturers numerous new ways to share digital images from…

On Thursday 21 November, Leiden University Libraries' (UBL) Centre for Digital Scholarship and the Leiden Centre for Digital Humanities organised a Symposium on Tools Criticism at the Leiden University Library. Visiting Scaliger Professor Ted Underwood, gave a Public Lecture on "The Humanities in an…

The Centre for Digital Scholarship of Leiden University Libraries (UBL) and the Leiden Centre for Digital Humanities would like to invite you to the symposium on Tools Criticism on Thursday 21 November, from 10.00-18.00. The symposium will be held in the Vossius room of the University Library at Witte…

At the start of the new year, we celebrate the release of a new selection of collection items into the Public Domain. This year, Leiden University Libraries (UBL) is making approximately eight hundred items freely downloadable via Digital Collections.

Houses, warehouses, wells, a mooring and even a stable. All of this can be seen on the oldest known map of the island of Dejima acquired by Leiden University Libraries (UBL). The map provides a highly detailed picture of a tiny living environment on the isolated island.

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) has received considerable funding from the National Library of Israel (NLI) and the Friedberg Jewish Manuscript Society (FJMS) for the digitisation of a collection of 166 Hebrew manuscripts. The digitised manuscripts will be made available to the public in the course…

The exhibition W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp en de Nieuwe Kunst rond 1900 will be on display in Leiden University Libraries in the period 21 January-17 May 2016.

Recently, the oldest parts of the Leiden University Archives have been preserved and digitised thanks to a grant from Metamorfoze. This makes an important source on the history of Leiden University – and academic life in the Northern Netherlands in a broader sense – widely available.

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…

With support of several publishers and private foundations, Leiden University Libraries (UBL) and the Scaliger Institute welcome around 15 to 20 Fellows and guests per year to consult and research materials from our Special Collections. The Scaliger Institute received many applications this year from…

2017 was the Leiden Asia Year. Leiden has had connections with Asia and built up extensive knowledge of the continent over many centuries. This Leiden-Asia link has been in the spotlight for the past year.

One of the tasks of Leiden University Libraries is to manage academic heritage, including letters and scholarly archives of leading researchers. Much of this material is nowadays created digitally and email is one of the main forms of communication. Hence, the UBL launched a pilot for acquiring and…