The National Librarians of Medicine and Their Predecessors

Did you know that Walter Reed was once a librarian at the National Library of Medicine? This book looks at the twenty-seven men and women who headed the National Library of Medicine. In its early years, the library was known as the Library of the Surgeon General s Office, and from 1836 to 1865 the Army Surgeon General acted in dual capacity as surgeon and librarian. The first person to hold this dual position (albeit informally) was Joseph Lovell, who began the library by purchasing copies of me