The National Librarians of Medicine and Their Predecessors

Walter Reed was a librarian at the National Library of Medicine, which was originally known as the Library of the Surgeon General's Office. The first person to hold the dual position of surgeon general and librarian was Joseph Lovell, who began the library by purchasing copies of medical books for his own use. The library grew to become the National Library of Medicine we know today, with the roles of surgeon general and librarian being separated in 1865 and the library renamed the Army Medical Library in 1922.

Format: Hardback
Length: 206 pages
Publication date: 29 July 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Walter Reed, a librarian at the National Library of Medicine, was once a librarian at the National Library of Medicine. This book explores the twenty-seven men and women who led the National Library of Medicine. Initially known as the Library of the Surgeon General's Office, the library was overseen by the Army Surgeon General from 1836 to 1865, who served as both surgeon and librarian. The first person to hold this dual position, albeit informally, was Joseph Lovell, who began the library by purchasing medical books for his own use. After Lovell's death in 1836, his interim successor, Benjamin King, began the process of transforming Lovell's collection into a formal library, which eventually became the National Library of Medicine we know today. Over the decades, the name and functions of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office underwent significant changes. In 1865, the roles of surgeon general and librarian were separated when Army Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes hired John Shaw Billings to manage the library. Many decades later, in 1922, the Library of the Surgeon General's Office was renamed the Army Medical Library. Finally, in 1956, the library was transformed into the institution we recognize today as the National Library of Medicine.

Weight: 449g
Dimension: 239 x 159 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538180495