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

An evening program in the University Library and Middle Eastern Library in Leiden for everyone who has something to do with the Middle East; from Tajikistan to the Mahreb and from Istanbul to Sanaa. View the oldest books and clay tablets from the collection and listen to the most fascinating stories…

Over 200 people paid their first visit to the new Middle Eastern Library on a special open evening. As well as exploring the library, they got to see exhibitions, speed lectures and premieres about Leiden University’s Middle Eastern collections.

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

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

Library

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 Middle Eastern Library, the African…

Leiden scholars succeeded in making Arabic accessible to Western academic communities as early as the sixteenth century. But how did they approach this problem?

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

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

A personal library account and LU-Card is needed to enter the libraries and use on-site facilities.

The Walaeus Library is Leiden University Libraries' medical library. The library is located on the first floor of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).

Visiting address Postal address Kamerlingh Onnes Building (KOG) Steenschuur 25 2311 ES Leiden Tel: +31 71 527 7515 Law Library Postbus 9520 2300 RA Leiden

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

A collection of uncatalogued books from the Middle East is now available through the Leiden University Libraries’ (UBL) catalogue. The collection contains over 12,000 books mainly written in Arabic, but also in multiple other languages from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, including Persian,…

The Library Panel is a platform for students and staff at Leiden University to give their opinion on the services and products of the University Libraries (UBL).

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.

Unlock your potential at the library!

The Yemen Amsterdam Library, or Maktabat al-Yaman al-Amstirdāmīyah, of eminent Yemen specialist Dr C.G. Brouwer has now been fully integrated in the collections of Leiden University Libraries (UBL). Books and other documents from the collection are now available for loan via the UBL Catalogue.

More than 2000 objects from the Middle Eastern collection at Leiden University Libraries (UBL) have been made available online through Digital Collections. These collections mostly consist of written works in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac, but also contain printed works and the…

Welcome to Leiden University Libraries!

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!

Visiting address Postal address Turfmarkt 99 2511 DP Den Haag +31 70 8009305 +31 71 5278705 Wijnhaven Library Postbus 13228 2501 EE Den Haag

Study support

Persian stories with beautiful miniatures, letters on papyrus from Egyptian traders and medicinal manuscripts translated from Greek and edited in Arabic. Studium Generale organizes a lecture series on the world-famous manuscripts from the Middle East collection of Leiden University Libraries (UBL).…

Visiting address Postal address Agora Building Wassenaarseweg 52 2333 AK Leiden Tel: +31 71 527 39 75 Social and Behavioural Sciences Library P.O. Box 9555 2300 RB Leiden

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…

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…

From July 2025 to April 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…

Assistance creating links to journal articles and (e-)books.

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…

On Thursday, May 16, Leiden University Libraries is organizing a workshop on early photography of the Middle East. In the workshop, curator Maartje van den Heuvel shows photos of three adventurous Dutch nineteenth-century travel and photography pioneers. They created beautiful photos and photo albums…