Founded in 1896 the Library contains around 4 million bibliographic items, including 29,000 serials, of which around 10,000 are current files. Around 20,000 monograph titles are added to stock annually. The Library serves both the academic community of the London School of Economics and the international community of social scientists. Its scope is the social sciences in the widest sense of the term.
Material is collected in the major languages of Western and Eastern Europe.
Collections of official publications from and relating to European states are extensive. Coverage of statistical publications is particularly strong. The Library has had EDC status since 1964. Other important collections include a depository set of United States government documents since 1903, and of the United Nations since its foundation. Access to all these resources is facilitated by the Library's catalogue , which has been computerised since 1980, and is accessible via the Internet.