THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE

The academy library - see schedule o.the academy library (https://www.nyam.org/library/) began operations in january 1847, as part of the newly established new york academy of medicine. In 1878 the library opened to the public, as it remains today. In the late 19th century, the library began collecting rare and historical works in medicine. Today the collections comprise over a million items: over 550,000 volumes of books and journals, including a rare book collection of approximately 32,000 volumes; 275,000 portraits and illustrations; approximately 400,000 pamphlets; and over 1,800 linear feet of manuscripts and archives. In 2012, the library restructured as an historical medical library. The library retains the medical literature it acquired over 175 years of service, and now focuses its collecting on rare and historical works in medicine and public health, as well as historical literature in those areas. It serves researchers with materials from our collections; supports two research fellowships, the audrey and william h. Helfand fellowship in the history of medicine and public health, and the paul klemperer fellowship in the history of medicine; provides visitors and classes with tours of the collections and the historic building; mounts historical programs; and shares its insights through social media and the library blog. On september 25, 2024, the academy library mounted a conference, "the future of historical medical libraries in the digital age." conceived as a follow-up to the december 2013 gathering at the college of physicians of philadelphia, "emerging roles for historical medical library: value in the digital age," the conference addressed issues of identity, technology, and organization, and was designed to be of interest to special collections libraries more generally. The conference featured 16 speakers, among them keynoter trevor owens, american institute of physics, "catching up to the digital present: a future for history of science, technology, and medicine collections, and jeremy a. Greene, johns hopkins university, "the future of the past in academic medicine: rethinking the historical role of the medical library." we saw over 250 attendees, about 100 in person and 175 virtually, with our newly avaible streaming set-up. Plans are underway to have the conference papers published. Further information about the conference is found at https://www.nyam.org/events/event/future-historical-medical-libraries-digital-age/. The library's 2024 programming (https://www.nyam.org/library/library-events-programs/) continued "color our collections," (http://library.nyam.org/colorourcollections/)february 59, mounting coloring books from 93 libraries, archives, museums, and cultural institutions from around the world. The library's own coloring book focused on "living well in the 19th and 20th centuries," reflecting the idea that good health is not simply the absence of disease. On june 18 we participated in the annual museum mile festival on fifth avenue, and on october 20, in open house new york weekend, offering tours of the academy building in connection with this city-wide architectural event. We offered ten drop-in, theme-based presentations of the collections on the first monday of each month at noon. The library's blog, "books, health, and history," (https://nyamcenterforhistory.org/) posted eleven articles in 2024, including posts on wheatless cake recipes, developed in response to grain shortages during world war i, blood donation, and, as part of the celebration of pride month, the library's collection of the ladder, published by the daughters of bilitis, a gay-forward organization of the 1950s and '60s. On april 18, 2024, in honor of earth day we screened "how to blow up a pipeline," an imaginative film that follows eight individuals who try to fight against a shared environmental enemy. After this film we hosted a discussion with briana carbajal, state legislative manager at we act for environmental justice. On november 12, 2024, we presented the east coast premiere of "mensch: a film about ludwik hirszfeld," polish biomedical researcher and survivor of the warsaw ghetto. Following the film, we hosted a discussion moderated by dr. Rita charon, columbia university narrative medicine, featuring the film's director, pawe wysoczaski, historian of medicine dr. William h. Schneider, indiana university, and internist dr. Steven l. Spitalnik, columbia university.the library hosted two research fellows in 2024: helfand fellow sheryl anne wombell, cambridge university, who delved into our collection of early modern recipe books, and klemperer fellow michael robinson, university of birmingham, who compared uk and us interwar responses to trauma.

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