Aga Khan Library
Contact usWelcome to the Aga Khan Library
The Aga Khan Library shares resources on the history, politics, traditions and beliefs that have shaped the contemporary global Muslim community. Our service supports teaching, learning and research at The Institute of Ismaili Studies and The Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations.
Visit AKL Website
54,000+
VOLUMES
in more than 50 languages
90,000+
EBOOKS
and millions of articles available 24/7
50+
LIVE JOURNALS
and 100+ historical journal runs
The Aga Khan Library is the product of a collaboration between The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) and The Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations(AKU-ISMC). The idea behind our creation began in 2008, when these two institutes relocated to the same building in central London.
For several years, these institutes continued to manage independent libraries. But in 2014, they merged their services and priceless Islamic studies collections to better serve their community of researchers, students and staff. This new library was unofficially known as the Joint IIS-ISMC Library.
In 2018, the combined library opened to the public as the Aga Khan Library, located in the newly built Aga Khan Centre. With more than 54,000 volumes and state-of-the-art facilities, we provide the academic public with the resources to thoroughly research the most diverse subjects in Islamic studies.
Our library houses the largest collection in Europe for the study of Ismaili communities, their history and their beliefs. It also offers a vast range of sources on Shia Islam, Quranic literature and other core issues of Islamic studies. Among them are invaluable collections to understand the historical and current development of Muslim civilisations, their cultural production, and the situation of Muslim diasporas worldwide.
