It was founded in order to "provide, for the serious student of administrative and constitutional problems, what has hitherto been lacking in this country, namely a collection of the materials for economic and political research".

Over 50 km of shelving, enough to stretch the length of the Channel Tunnel, houses over four and a half million items including 31,000 past and present journal titles.

[6] Its collections have been recognised for their national and international importance and awarded 'Designation' status by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).

[7] It also holds a number of other archive collections of national or international significance,[8] such as The Women's Library, LGBT activism, British politics and early left wing thought, and peace campaigning.

The Lionel Robbins Building covers 20,000 square metres, and offers 1,700 study places, including 450 networked PCs and 226 laptop drop-in points.

A light-filled atrium, named after Michael Peacock and spiral stepped ramp culminate at the top in a partially glazed dome which has been precisely angled to maximise daylight with minimal solar glare.