History of the Medical Library

The Iowa State Medical Library was opened in  July 1919 by Johnson Brigham, State Librarian at the urging of Judge H.E. Deemer, chair of the book committee of the  State Library of Iowa.

In 1913, Mr Brigham approached the Polk County Medical Society to recommend a list of books that would be most helpful to the medical profession. In the meantime, the American Library Association had started an interlibrary loan system. Some Iowa physicians used this system through the State Library to borrow books and periodicals from the John Crerar Library in Chicago and from the Surgeon-General’s Library in Washington, D.C. Mr. Brigham thought that the State Library of Iowa should be able to provide a similar service to the physicians of Iowa.

Over a thousand medical works were initially donated by the Drake University medical school which had recently closed, the Iowa Medical Society, the State Board of Health and various medical clinics. Several hundred items were donated by prominent Des Moines area physicians including Gersom H. Hill, E.E. Dorr, O.W. Criley, Walter L. Bierring, W.W. Pearson, and D.S. Fairchild. Dr. Oliver J. Fay suggested a card-system which he used to classify his books.

The library began in one small room on the second floor of the Historical Building. The State Traveling Library had a unique loaning system extending into every county in Iowa and Mr. Brigham proposed utilizing the same system for the medical department. He had talked to other librarians from large libraries across the country and found that collections of medical works remained on the shelves practically unused because statewide interlibrary loan programs were not available.

The first librarian, Miss Margaret Brinton, was followed by Miss Lavina Steele, Miss Frances VanZandt, and Mrs. Helen Kurt, during the first 10 years of the library’s existence.  Jeannette Dean-Throckmorton, M.D. became librarian in 1929 and served there until her death in 1963.

The services of the library included reference and lending where books and journals were loaned out on the topic of interest.   Bibliographies were also prepared for physicians. Expert assistance to attorneys in medico-legal cases was also made available.   The circulation of the library grew and the 1949 statistics showed that  7,667 users had consulted 47,998 books and journals that year.

In 1939, the Forty-eighth General Assembly passed a library consolidation bill which created three libraries: The Medical, the Law and the Traveling libraries, the latter absorbing the former general and economics libraries. The office of  State Librarian was abolished and the Iowa State Medical Library was placed under a state library board consisting of the governor, the superintendent of public instruction, and one supreme court justice.

In the middle 1970's the Iowa State Medical Library, the Law Library, and the former Traveling Library were once again placed under the jurisdiction of a State Librarian who reported to a State Library Commission.  The three libraries continued to receive individual appropriations from the state legislature until the late 1970's when all were combined into one.

The Medical Library continues to provide reference services to not only physicians, but to other health care providers as well. Attorneys, state government, area students, health associated businesses, libraries, and the general public are all welcome to use the services. Although journals are no longer loaned out, photocopied articles, books, and videocassettes are available  at the library and through interlibrary loan.  HealthInfoIowa, a consumer health information web site, was made available to health professionals and the general public , April 2001.  Funded by a grant through the National Library of Medicine, the web site is available for anyone to use, but is targeted specifically towards the health information needs of Iowans.