LSE Library: a history of the collections

Two world wars, the end of empires, the rise and fall of ideologies, the development of international organisation and co-operation – these are but some of the momentous events and changes which have shaped the world and human society in ways unimaginable in 1896, when LSE Library was founded as the British Library of Political Science. In their wake the social sciences and related disciplines have taken new directions and developed new concerns, generating an ever increasing output of literature across the globe. Like no other Library, the collections at LSE record and reflect more than a century of political, social and economic change, offering student and researcher a unique resource for the study and interpretation of past and contemporary societies.