THE ARMY MEDICAL  LIBRARY
• The late Dr. William H. Welch,
  eminent  pathologist  of   Johns
  Hopkins University, said: "I  have
  been asked on more than one oc-
  casion  what have been the really
  great contributions of this coun-
  try to medical knowledge.   I have
  given the  subject some thought
  and believe that four should  be
  named: (I) the discovery of anes-
  thesia; (2) the discovery of insect
  transmission of disease; (3) the de-
  velopment  of the modern  public
  health  laboratory  in all that the
  term implies;  (4) the Army Medi-
  cal Library and  its  Index-Cata-
  logue.   This  library and its  cata-
  logue are  the most  important of
the four." 
* In  1836, during Andrew Jackson's
  second  term,  Surgeon  General
  Lovell started the  small collection
  of books which is today known as
  the greatest medical research li-
  brary in the world.
• The Army  Medical Library's col-
  lection includes 513  medical  in-
  cunabula.   Of some works,  it has
  the only known copy.  There is a
  collection   of  early  manuscripts
  from   European   and   Oriental
  sources and an extensive collection
  of rare sixteenth and  seventeenth
  century medical works.
• There are theses published at the
  University of Paris (considered to
  be the most complete collection in
  existence);   a  vast collection  of
  vital statistics; and a medical art 
  collection including some  10,000
  items,  with   references to  more
  than 50,000 portraits  and illustra-
  tions.
• Material  of  clinical  importance
  flows into the Library from nearly
  every country in the world. Russian
  publications,  Chinese periodicals,
  Icelandic,  Turkish,  Hungarian,
  Croatian,  Portuguese,   Dutch,
  Swedish, and Spanish  monographs
  and  journals all make  their contri-
  bution to the Library's collection.
  Over 3500  serial titles are regu-
  larly  recorded.   In all  there  are
  over a million items of which more
  than  500,000 are bound volumes.

• It has been  well  said that  books
  are properly compared to tools of
  which the index is the handle. This 
  wealth of medical knowledge  has
  been made accessible through the
  Index-Catalogue conceived by the
  first Librarian, Colonel John Shaw
  Billings.

• Basic  bibliography  of medicine
  since  1880, the  Index-Catalogue
  has world-wide  distribution.   Its
  most  recent volume covers 6000
  medical  and  scientific  subjects
  with a total of 105,000 references.

• Inter-library loans, bibliographical
  and   photoduplication  services
  make  it possible for the  doctor,
  wherever he may be, to have at
  his beck and  call  all  of  the Li-
  brary's resources.  Through these
  services over a half  million pages
  of medical information per month
  are distributed to all parts of the
  world. 
• Today's demands  for  greater
  medical knowledge have  placed
  heavy responsibilities on the Army
  Medical Library.  To  meet these
  responsibilities  and  to  provide
  proper housing  for  its ever  ex-
  panding  collection  a  new  and
  larger building must be  secured.
• Building plans have  been  drawn
  adequate  to  meet these  needs.
  The site has been approved.   An
  organization of sufficient strength
  to carry forward has been planned.
• The Army  Medical Library looks
  forward to the time when it  will
  become a  part of  the proposed
  group  of  cultural  and  research
  centers with the Folger  Library
  and the Library of Congress on
  Capitol Hill.  Thus will  be  pro- 
vided in one central  location the
greatest assemblage of means for
cultural research that the world has
ever known.
All  efforts  are directed toward
bringing about the success of these
plans. This great medical research
library must continue  to build and
interpret its collection in support
of medical progress.

The Army  Medical Library  looks
forward to new horizons in library
service,  for all who work for the
betterment of  mankind  through
the prevention  of disease and the
alleviation of human suffering. 
•
     Army Service Forces
     Medical Department
Major General  Norman T. Kirk
      The Surgeon General
   The Army  Medical Library
7th Street and Independence Ave., S. W.
        Washington, D. C.
     Colonel Leon L. Gardner,
          M.C., U.S.A.
           The Director
      Mr. Wyllis E. Wright
           The  Librarian
     Sponsored by the
Association of Honorary
Consultants to the Army
    Medical Library
• 
ASSOCIATION OF HONORARY CONSULT-
ANTS TO THE ARMY MEDICAL  LIBRARY

    President of  the  Association and
      Chairman  of the Executive
              Committee
          DR. JOHN  F.  FULTON
     Yale University School of Medicine
         New Haven,  Connecticut
                   ★
             Vice-President
        DR.  CHAUNCEY  D.  LEAKE
    University of Texas School of Medicine
             Galveston, Texas
                   *
          Secretary-Treasurer
COLONEL HAROLD W. JONES,  U.S.A., Ret.
          Army  Medical  Library
            Washington,  D.  C.
                   ★
       The  Executive Committee
         DR. CLYDE L CUMMER
    Cleveland Medical  Library Association
             Cleveland, Ohio
                   ★
        DR.  WILBURT  C.  DAVISON
     Duke University School of Medicine
          Durham, North  Carolina
                   ★
          DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN
       American  Medical  Association
             Chicago, Illinois
                   ★
   MAJOR GENERAL  GEORGE  F. LULL
       American  Medical  Association
             Chicago, Illinois