Services for Leiden University alumni

Leiden University alumni and PhD graduates can continue to use library facilities free of charge.

A library card at Leiden University Libraries (UBL) allows Leiden University alumni and PhD graduates to keep using various library facilities. After graduation, the former Leiden University student account and LU-Card will be continued as an alumnus account.

After graduation, you will keep your account, log-on data and LU-Card. You can continue to visit the libraries and to borrow library materials just as before.

Please note that when your student account changes into an alumnus account, your LU-Card will be automatically blocked. If you want to keep using the LU-Card, please contact Front Office Student Affairs to have the card unblocked, or visit one of our library desks.

Fall of 2024: alumni uMail addresses to be discontinued

Leiden University will discontinue the uMail for alumni. Once this change is implemented, all library notices will be sent to the personal email address associated with your ULCN account. Please make sure this email address is correct, so as to keep receiving our notices.

Change of address

Please keep your Leiden University alumnus account up to date. Report any changes regarding your personal contact data to the Front Office Student Affairs.

Graduated before September 2006?

Alumni graduated before September 2006 may have a library guest account and LU-Card made, free of charge, at one of the library desks. Please bring a valid means of ID, plus evidence of your graduation at Leiden University.

PhD graduates will see their Leiden University staff account terminated after graduation. If you wish to continue to use the library, please apply for a free library guest account and LU-Card for alumni, at the library desk.

Some PhD students graduated in the past may have the option to have a Leiden University alumnus account (including library use). Please find more information on the Leiden University alumni page.

Leiden University alumni need a valid LU-Card to be able to visit the libraries.

Exam periods

Alumni are welcome to visit the libraries year-round; exam periods access restrictions do not apply. However, during exam weeks most study places are reserved for use by Leiden University students. Several study places are freely available for other visitors; these seats are marked with a white sticker. In the UB, this applies to reading room 1 at the first floor.

Using your alumnus account, all UBL databases can be accessed from within the University network (except for 'Legal Intelligence', offering access for students and staff only).

Remote access

Leiden Alumni Databases offers remote access to the following databases:

Academic Search Alumni Edition
Art Index (H.W. Wilson)
Criminal Justice Abstracts
Library Literature & Information Science Index (H.W. Wilson)
JSTOR collections: Arts & Sciences 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7, and Early Journal Content

Visit Leiden Alumni Databases

In case you have forgotten your password, please find more info on Leiden University's ULCN account password webpages.

We would like to invite you, as an alumnus or PhD, to join the Friends of Leiden University Libraries foundation. Friends contribute to the preservation, expansion, restauration and maintenance of the collections.

As a friend of Leiden University Libraries you will be invited to attend lectures, themed activities and exhibition openings, and you will be kept updated on various developments within the libraries.