An American Achievement In Culture And Medicine
With the polarization in American government and the on-going government shutdown, it is valuable to be reminded of the accomplishments and ideals of our beloved country. The U.S. National Library of Medicine, the largest medical library in the world, is among these accomplishments, and it has been part of out national life since the early days. Part of the Images of America series of local American photographic histories, "US National Library Of Medicine" (2017) offers a short, eloquent guided tour of the library and its history. The authors, Jeffery Resnick and Kenneth Koyle, are chief and deputy chief of the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine. Their book reflects love and knowledge for the institution they serve.
This book differs from most Images of America titles in the length and detail of the textual introductions. The work consists of eight chapters documenting the history of the Library each of which is written and prepared by a specialist on the Library staff. The book thus shows the commitment of the Library community to their mission and also the breadth of the historical knowledge of the Library staff. The images in the book derive primarily from the Library's own collection and show the buildings, books, leaders, employees, reading rooms, and users of the Library that have helped shape the institution and make it what it is. The work covers the library's history beginning in 1816 and continuing through the second decade of the 21st century.
It is inspiring to see how the Library developed from small beginnings to parallel the growth of the United States. Thus the opening chapter covers the Library's early years when it began as little more than a small collection of books from the personal library of the Surgeon General. During the Civil War and thereafter, a visionary leader, John Shaw Billings, conceived the idea of a national library of medicine and this vision was pursued by his successors. One of the accomplishments of this era was the production of a multi-volume "Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion". The Library also began the never-ending process of indexing and cataloguing its growing holdings to make them accessible to researchers.
The Library went through many early homes until in the late 19th century it build a structure affectionately known as the "Old Red Brick" on the National Mall which served as its home for over 70 years. The Old Red Brick years receive much attention in this book. During WW II, many of the valuable books in the library's collection were moved to a library in Cleveland for security reasons and remained in Cleveland until 1962.
In 1959, Congress authorized the building of a new library in Bethesda, Maryland on the campus of the National Institute of Health. The library was officially redesignated as the National Library of Medicine. The new building opened with great fanfare in 1962 and has remained the home of the library ever since. This book documents the history and construction of the new library including the planting of a "Tree of Hippocrates", a gift from the town of Cos in Greece where Hippocrates is reported to have taught students under a tree.
The latter chapters of the book document the Library's response to the explosion of medical knowledge and to the growth of computer technology in the information age. In the late years of the 20th century, the Library expanded its holdings and became to include the growth of knowledge in biochemistry and of the make-up of the human genome. The National Library of Medicine was in the forefront of using computer technology to index and provide access to its vast holdings even before the age of the Internet. The book shows how the Library has made use of technology to make its knowledge and resources available to researchers from around the world.
As befitting a historical study of a library, the book concludes with a bibliography for readers moved to learn more about the National Library of Medicine.
The foundation, maintenance and expansion of the National Library of Medicine shows the United States at its best. The Library is a beacon for culture and for science. At a difficult time for our country, I was glad to learn about the Library and its history through this book.
