The Lehigh Libraries serve as a central hub for the intellectual life of the campus, advancing teaching, learning, research, and discovery for Lehigh students, faculty, and staff. With holdings exceeding 800,000 volumes and vast online offerings, the libraries blend rich collections with expert guidance, innovative spaces, and world-class accessibility for a research community of students and scholars.
Research and Instruction Librarians
Lehigh's research librarians are ready to help all students, faculty, and staff connect with resources to meet their goals, whether for coursework, research, or independent inquiry. Our subject-specialist research librarians provide discipline-specific and in-depth assistance across the research lifecycle, with expertise in a wide range of areas including copyright, publishing, data management, and citation styles. Additionally, librarians provide customized library instruction to classes, programs, and other campus groups; suggest and/or obtain materials for teaching and research needs; and collaborate with faculty and students on research projects. For assistance, request a library instruction session or a research consultation, or visit the library staff page to find and contact your research librarian.
Holdings
Lehigh faculty and students rely on the library as they seek answers to questions new and old. Today's acquisitions range from traditionally published print books to "born digital" objects that exist only in cyberspace. The Lehigh University library collection comprises over 800,000 print volumes and more than 400,000 electronic books in all branches of science, engineering, mathematics, the humanities, and the social sciences, as well as books, manuscripts, historic photographs, university archives, and other special materials. Our journal subscriptions number more than 60,000 periodicals, the majority of which are in electronic format. The library also subscribes to video platforms which provide readily available access to tens of thousands of streaming media resources to the benefit of the whole community.
Research and Scholarly Materials
Timely access to scientific journal subscriptions is the most requested resource to support Lehigh’s cutting-edge research and scholarly pursuits. Our journal subscriptions provide direct access to the most up-to-date research, in addition, the library partners with networks of research libraries across the nation and the globe to provide expedited access to relevant materials via Lehigh’s interlibrary loan arrangements. The library also offers access to more than 200 specialty databases and to a wide variety of research tools. These resources allow research to be done more systematically, to collaborate with others, and publish in the most impactful venues.
Special Collections
Ensuring the longevity and usability of Lehigh’s intellectual heritage in all its forms is a primary objective of Special Collections. Preservation activities cover conservation and maintenance of books, manuscripts, and other print collections as well as digital preservation of born-digital and reformatted content. Lehigh’s Special Collections library holds a rare book collection of over 40,000 volumes, with first editions of English and American literature from the 17th to the 19th centuries, as well as works of historical significance in science and technology. The Lehigh University Archives contains documents, photographs, and publications of the University, papers of faculty members, and Lehigh memorabilia. In addition, the library leads digitization efforts related to Bethlehem and the region, and works collaboratively with other libraries to make sure that Pennsylvania's heritage is preserved and made available in perpetuity.