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UCL LIBRARY SERVICES

Modern languages

A subject guide for the UCL School of European Languages, Culture and Society (SELCS)

Other Libraries

To locate material not held by UCL you can use the Library Hub Discover: an online catalogue with records of the holdings the top research libraries in the country.

Senate House Library has strong collections in languages, the arts and social and historical sciences. Any registered member of UCL can join the library and borrow from there. Senate Library card also allows you to access remotely its e-resources. You can pre-register online.

 

British Library photo.

The British Library has strong languages collections: Dutch, Romance and German languages. UCL staff and students can apply directly for reference access.

 

Find out more about using other libraries, and links to other library catalogues.

Libraries that focus on particular languages or subjects

Please remember to check, access restrictions, with the library you intend to visit before turning up.
  • Warburg Institute has strong collections in Art, History of Art (especially German, Italian and Dutch). Italian literature (from Dante to the 17th cent.). German and Italian Historiography (from antiquity to the present) and Renaissance studies.
  • German Historical Institute Library the collections focus on German history from the Middle Ages to the present, with special emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries and particularly on Germany between 1933 and 1945, the development of the two German states and German unification after 1989.
  • The Goethe Institut Library holds a large collection of German books, magazines, audiobooks, German movies and documentaries.
Please remember to check, access restrictions, with the library you intend to visit before turning up.
  • La Médiathèque, part of the Institute Français in London, is one of the largest French libraries in the UK its collections include over 5000 French DVDs and CDs as well as French books (including e-books) magazines and newspapers.
Please remember to check, access restrictions, with the library you intend to visit before turning up.
  • Warburg Institute has strong collections in Italian literature (from Dante to the 17th cent.). Italian Historiography (from antiquity to the present). Italian Renaissance studies and Art, History of Art (especially Italian, German and Dutch).
  • La Bibiloteca "Eugenio Montale" at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura houses a  a large collection of Italian books, DVDs, newspapers and magazines.
Please remember to check, access restrictions, with the library you intend to visit before turning up.
  • The Institute of Latin American Studies (located in Senate House) collects materials covering Latin America and the Caribbean: all the territories of Central and South America as well as the islands of the Caribbean (including the English-, Dutch- and French-speaking communities), the subjects covered are: history, politics, economics, anthropology, sociology, gender studies with an emphasis on literature, films and documentaries. Much of the material is unique and has been sourced directly from the countries of origin, consequently a large proportion of materials is in Spanish, Portuguese and French.
  • The Library at the Instituto Cervantes holds a good collection of books, DVDs, audiobooks, newspapers and magazines. Members of the library also have remote access to online resources.
  • The Maugham Library at King's College London has a strong collection of Spanish and Latin American materials. The collection includes the Canning House's collection which was transferred to King's in 2012. The Canning House Library collection was one of the largest collections in the UK on Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries that at the time was available to the general public. The collection covers Latin American literature, film, the visual arts, music, archaeology, the cultures of Latin America's indigenous people, history, politics and geography.
  • Last Updated: Oct 16, 2025 3:26 PM
  • URL: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/modern-languages
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