The National Librarians of Medicine and Their Predecessors

Nappo (Lee County, FL, School District; Librarians of Congress) offers an overview of the individuals who headed the federally operated National Library of Medicine. The National Library of Medicine is now the world’s largest medical library, but Nappo notes that it has humble origins. The first person to manage the library was Joseph Lovell, the first Army Surgeon General, who maintained a small collection of medical books for his own use. His successor, Benjamin King, made a formal request for funding and created the Library of the Surgeon General’s Office. Since that time, there have been 25 more heads of the library, including Walter Reed. It has evolved into a major resource with a sophisticated catalogue system, making its resources available online worldwide. This small book contains brief (six- to eight-page) biographies of the 27 people who served as head of the library, most of whom were physicians; only two have been women. Readers will be able to track the growth of the institution as they read about its past leaders.