Books are included in this list based on their significance as reference material for the history, architecture and social impact of lidos or public outdoor swimming pools in the UK.

In chronological order:

• Rew, Kate (2008), Wild swim: river, lake, lido and sea : the best places to swim outdoors in Britain, Guardian Books, ISBN 9780852650936
• Smith, Virginia Sarah (2007), Clean: a history of personal hygiene and purity, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780199297795
• Wilcox, Timothy (2006), A Day in the sun: outdoor pursuits in the art of the 1930s, Philip Wilson Publishers, ISBN 9781900809368
• Gray, Fred (2006), Designing the seaside: architecture, society and nature, Reaktion Books, ISBN 9781861892744
• Smith, Janet (2006), Liquid assets: the lidos and open air swimming pools of Britain, English Heritage, ISBN 9780954744502
• Worpole, Ken (2000), Here comes the sun: architecture and public space in twentieth-century European culture, Reaktion Books, ISBN 9781861890733
• Deakin, Roger (1999), Waterlog - a swimmer’s journey through Britain, Chatto & Windus, ISBN 9780701166526
• Sprawson, Charles (1992), Haunts of the black masseur : the swimmer as hero, Cape, ISBN 0224027301
• Powers, Alan (1991), Farewell my lido, The Thirties Society
• Brown, Ivor John Carnegie (1935), The heart of England, B. T. Batsford ltd.

The significance of a book on this list can be shown by the level of citations in other publications shown on Google Scholar.

The following websites are maintained by recognized authorities on lidos and so are suitable reliable sources.

• Oliver Merrington. "Lidos in the United Kingdom".

Contains a comprehensive A-Z index of every outdoor pool or lido in the UK, plus several webpages on historic lidos in various regions, on tidal seawater pools and on Potentially Re-openable Lidos. There is an official forum where updates to the site are suggested (Lidos History Society) and the latest news may be found.

• Anne Jessel's Lost Lidos (UK)

The following articles about lidos are key source documents.

• "Minutes of Evidence: Listed swimming pools and pool buildings no longer in use". House of Commons: Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport. 15 January 2002. Retrieved November 16, 2009.

A schedule of listed swimming pools and pool buildings; seven are listed at grade II* and the remaining 72 are listed at grade II.

Newspaper and magazine articles are included on this list based on accuracy of reporting of general information on lidos, public interest, campaigns, architectural and historical interest and social or political issues. Articles restricted to individual lidos are not included.

• Jordison, Sam (9 July 2009). "Going swimming with Roger Deakin: I had been hoping to dive in alongside Rupert Brooke and Byron, but Grantchester no longer caters to bathers". The Observer. London.
• Natasha Polyviou (Jun 25 2009). "Outdoor swimming in London". Time Out (London). {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• "An even bigger splash: swimming across London". The Independent. 16 July 2007. Fifty hardy souls in swimsuits, hats and goggles, gather at Tooting Bec Lido in south London at 5.30am. They swim one length of that lido, then at two others, 10 pools, and two lakes, and finish, 14 hours later, at Hampstead Heath Mixed Ponds in the north of the city. They are transported, between swims, by a decommissioned Routemaster bus. They are required to run through crowded streets, on a cold July day, wearing very little. Their every movement is recorded by a film crew.
• "10 seawater pools". London: The Guardian. 14 July 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-08. There's something rather special about swimming pools hewn out of a rocky coast - ideal for those who like their brine tame
• Hudson, Christopher (August 13, 2006). "You shall go to the pool". The Sunday Times. London. Britains lidos were perfect places to spend long, hot summer days before they were bulldozed, or their art-deco splendour left to rot. Now the most glamorous are about to resurface.
• Gemma Bowes (23 July 2006). "Summer in the city". London: The Observer. From urban beaches and lidos to park festivals and outdoor film screenings, Gemma Bowes shows you how to chill out and make the most of summer in the concrete jungles of Europe
• Jenny Landreth (8 July 2006). "Take me to your lido". London: The Guardian. Nothing beats diving into cool sparkling water on a hot summer day. Here, three friends set out on a mini tour of outdoor pools
• Alison Freeman (16 March 2006). "Things going swimmingly for lidos". BBC News.
• Tom de Castella (5 March 2006). "Tide turns as the lido is born again; A new thirst for healthy living is leading to a rebirth of the open air pool". London: The Observer.
• "Oh, we do like to be beside the (Modernist) seaside". The Times. London. August 23, 2005. Retrieved 2010-05-08. As Bexhill's De La Warr Pavillion re-opens, our correspondent hails the resurrection of a galamorous and gracious design classic
• "Where to jump in and cool off". The Sunday Times. London. July 24, 2005. Retrieved 2010-05-08. From a Dartmoor stream to the longest lido in the country, these are the experts' top outdoor dips
• Yeoman, Fran (July 16, 2005). "Take me to your lido". The Times. London. Open-air public pools have been getting a face-lift. Fran Yeoman dips into what's on offer
• Chittenden, Maurice (August 31, 2003). "Tracey Emin plunges in as a pool artist". The Sunday Times. London.
• Dyckhoff, Tom (August 5, 2003). "It's summer: take me to your lido". The Times. London. Our grandparents could swim at any of the hundreds of open-air lidos in 1930s Britain. Few remain but some are at last being restored
• Alexandra Buxton (26 July 2003). "Sea change". London: The Guardian.
• Ashley Norris (July 6, 2002). "Travel: On the cheap: Lidos: The city's beaches: If you can't make it to the coast, try your local lido. Ashley Norris samples eight in a day". The Guardian (London).

• "Swimming in the rain: Peter Bradshaw on the masochistic pleasures of a British summer at the lido". The Observer. London. 1999-06-14. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
• Deakin, Roger (29 May 1999). "Take the plunge". The Independent. London. Once upon a time most people swam in the open air. But in the past two or three decades, the tables have turned, and the outdoor swimmer, especially the wild variety, is now an endangered species. Yet, as I discovered during the course of my recent swimming journey through Britain, there are pockets of resistance everywhere, and as we return towards all things natural,
• Burchill, Julie (8 May 1999). "The age of reason: Off at the deep end". The Observer. London.
• Wood, Stephen (12 July 1997). "The sensational art of swimming". The Independent. London. The morning was grim, clouds forming, a gloomy dome where the sky should have been. The view was grim, too. Below the promenade, the concrete semicircle of a derelict lido pushed out into the sea. In the middle of the pool's stagnant water stood a vase-shaped fountain, long dead, its old blue paintwork stained with rusty streaks.
• Aschkenasy, Julie (26 February 1994). "Sink or swim: The Big Splash Action Group is fighting to save its London lido from imminent closure. Julie Aschkenasy tests the water". The Independent.

• "London Lido For Children Proposed Schemes For Parks, L.C.C. Programme". The Times. Dec 06, 1937. p. 18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) - Describes five new London lido development plans.
• "A River Beach From Drawdock To Lido". The Times. Sep 05, 1933. p. 13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |newspaper= (help) - Describes how drawdocks (a creek or inlet in the bank of a navigable river into which boats or barges can be run to land cargoes, or lie in the mud at low water) are becoming lidos used by children to swim.

The following documentaries and films are considered reliable sources, particularly for the social impact of lidos. See also the list by Oliver Merrington. "Films and TV programmes on Lidos"..

• Lido by Lucy Blakstad, BBC, 1995 (50 mins) Modern Times: The Lido, BBC, 6 December 1995; filmed at Brockwell Lido.