Leiden University Library

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Leiden University Libraries
Library in 1610 (print by Woudanus)
Location	Leiden, The Netherlands
Type	Academic library
Established	1575
Architect(s)	Bart van Kasteel
Branches	5
Collection
Size	5,200,000 volumes, 1,000,000 e-books, 70,000 e-journals, 2,000 current paper journals, 60,000 Oriental and Western manuscripts, 500,000 letters, 100,000 maps, 100,000 prints, 12,000 drawings, 300,000 photographs, and 3,000 cuneiform tablets.
Other information
Director	Kurt De Belder
Website	www.library.universiteitleiden.nl

Leiden University Libraries is a library founded in 1575 in Leiden, Netherlands. It is regarded as a significant place in the development of European culture: it is a part of a small number of cultural centres that gave direction to the development and spread of knowledge during the Enlightenment. This was due particularly to the simultaneous presence of a unique collection of exceptional sources and scholars.^[1] Holdings include approximately 5,200,000 volumes, 1,000,000 e-books, 70,000 e-journals, 2,000 current paper journals, 60,000 Oriental and Western manuscripts, 500,000 letters, 100,000 maps, 100,000 prints, 12,000 drawings, 300,000 photographs and 3,000 cuneiform tablets. The library manages the largest collections worldwide on Indonesia and the Caribbean. Furthermore, Leiden University Libraries is the only heritage organization in The Netherlands with five registrations of documents in UNESCO's international Memory of the World Register.

"Est hic magna commoditas bibliothecae ut studiosi possint studere"

—Josephus Justus Scaliger

"The greatest advantage of the library is that those who want to study, can study."