National Library of Medicine

Mission Statement

National Library of Medicine is the world's largest medical library located on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The Library collects materials and provides information and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care. It also holds more than 7 million items in its collection including valuable collection of historical manuscripts and other materials related to health and medicine. The Exhibition Program at the Library produces original, exhibitions related to history, medicine, health, technology, and people. The Program has developed exhibitions titled such as Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature, Breath of Life (Asthma), and Once and Future Web (Telegraph and the Internet). Our current exhibition, Changing the Face of Medicine explores the challenges, inspiring achievements, and contributions that women have made to medicine since 1850 in the United States. The stories and career highlights of over 300 women doctors are told through the use of historical artifacts, multimedia, and an interactive database. You can visit the exhibition website at www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine. Changing the Face of Medicine is open at the Library until April 2005 and a new exhibition about the history of forensic medicine is scheduled to open in May or June 2005.