1913, The Medical Department of the New York State Library,

May 5, 1913, The Medical Department of the New York State Library, By Dr. Albert VanderVeer, Albany, New York.



Pull quotes:

"Previous to the disastrous Capitol fire, March 29, 1911, the New York State Library Report for 1910, showed the Medical Library contained a total of 19,000 volumes,"

(Speaking on May 5, 1913,) "It is estimated that since the fire we have accumulated approximately 22,000 volumes."

It took 20 years to collect 19,000 volumes, and then 25 months to "recollect" 22,000 volumes. 

(Biography of VanderVeer: Albert Vanderveer, M.D,)

1913, The Medical Department of the New York State Library, By Dr. Albert VanderVeer, Albany, New York.

(Read at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Medical Library Association, New Willard Hotel, Washington D.C., May 5, 1913.)

The New York State Library was established by act of Legislature passed April 21, 1818. By the terms of this act a room in the Capitol was set apart "for the purpose of keeping therein a public library for the use of the government and people of this State." It further provided "that no book, map or other publication shall at any time be taken out of the library for any purpose whatever. '' For the purposes of carrying this act into effect "the Legislature" appropriated the sum of three thousand dollars, and also the further annual sum of five hundred dollars.

During the early years of its existence the library was in charge of various State officers as ex officio trustees. As it gradually grew in size it became evident that better supervision could be provided by a more permanent board, and on May 4, 1844, it was transferred to the custody and control of the Regents of the University of the State of New York.

The library from its foundation in 1818 to 1854, was kept in a room on the north side of the old Capitol. In 1854 it was removed to a building specially constructed for the purpose, and connected with the old Capitol by a two story corridor. The Law Department occupied the ground floor, and the general library the second floor. When it was constructed the Legislature prescribed very definite limitations regarding its size lest it should be unnecessarily large; but within ten years its shelves were full.

In 1883 progress in the new Capitol required the demolition of the old Capitol building and the State Library building. In September and October of that year the library was therefore transferred to temporary quarters on the second floor, north side, of the new Capitol.

The library remained in these temporary rooms till early in 1889, when it was placed in permanent quarters in the west end of the new Capitol, where it occupied portions of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors.

At this time there was a radical revision of the laws governing the library whereby it was made an integral part of the University.

In less than twenty years the space became so cramped as seriously to handicap the work of the library and to make it necessary to store many thousand duplicates in warehouses.

The New York State Medical Library was incorporated by act of Legislature in May, 1891, as the result of discussion on the part of the medical professionals living in and about the Capitol, who believed they were entitled to representation as well as other professions, and the public at large. After consultation with some of the leading Senators and Assemblymen a line of action developed resulting in the establishment of the Medical Department of the New York State Library.

At this time the Faculty of the Albany Medical College, through its Board of Trustees, transferred its medical library to the State Library. This comprised nearly 6,030 volumes, and the State agreed to maintain a reading room for the benefit of the medical profession, also making a moderate appropriation for the purchase of current medical literature, periodicals, etc., an assistant librarian to be employed in cataloging and making the material available for practical use. By the Unification act of 1904, when the Board of Regents and the Department of Public Instruction became one executive body, the State Library was made a Division of the New York State Education Department, which has general supervision of all educational interests of the State.

In 1906, the Legislature made provisions for a separate building for the New York State Education Department, including the State Library, but before the new building was ready for occupancy the congestion was so great as to double the inconvenience.

At this time the Medical Library contained over 17,000 volumes, including a good working collection of dictionaries, cyclopedias and textbooks,. and a large number of periodicals, of which 543 were received regularly. A list of these periodicals, including complete and incomplete sets, was published in 1905 for distribution to physicians.

At that period, and at the present time, any registered physician in the State may have material collected on any subject, either to be used in the library or sent to his home under the following regulations:

Books may be borrowed (preferably througlh local libraries) by any licensed physician in the State, by full-time instructors on the faculty of any medical college, members of the house staff of any hospital, registered and certified nurses, or any one engaged in medical work, who gives suitable references and credentials. The borrower must pay all transportation charges, use such care in packing as to guard against injury in transportation, and pay for books lost or damaged, the period of loan being two weeks, subject to one renewal for the same period; but all books must be returned at the earliest date consistent with the special study for which they were borrowed.

Physicians coming to Albany from a distance, find it to their advantage to notify the librarian in advance, as to the books or subjects desired and date of prospective visit.

Physicians wishing books from the Library of Surgeon General's Office, U. S. A., can obtain them for two weeks through this or any public library by paying express charges both ways.

The above will serve to give a slight description of the past as well as present scope of the Medical Library.

Under the direction of the State Librarian and in conjunction with the Medical Librarian, there is an Advisory Council, consisting of five resident physicians, who meet as often as may be required to look over recent publications and consult regarding books and periodicals to be purchased in completing files, etc.

The regular Medical Library appropriation is $2,000 annually, and our Advisory Council must, of necessity, expend this amount very judiciously, in order to make purchases of books and periodicals that will be of permanent benefit to the different branches of tile medical profession.

Previous to the disastrous Capitol fire, March 29, 1911, the New York State Library Report for 1910, showed the Medical Library contained a total of 19,000 volumes, carefully chosen and making a serviceable research library for medical subjects, including sets of current periodicals, etc., etc., with many thousand volumes of earlier editions, duplicates, etc., housed in outside storage, as well as in portions of the Capitol not reached by fire or water. The Medical Library suffered more in proportion than any other part of the general library, in fact but a very small portion of the bound periodicals being saved.

I wish to state here that the Legislature of the State of New York made a very liberal appropriation, after the fire, for the purchase of books for the general library, and the Medical Library has drawn upon this special emergency fund to the extent of $10,000 (approximately) $4,700 from the appropriation and the rest from a special fund. Of necessity, the fire created a great amount of binding, for gifts and purchases, the cost of which comes out of a special library fund.

No use is made of the annual appropriation of $2,000 for binding or other purposes, thus enabling us to keep pretty well abreast of current medical textbooks and periodicals.

Immediately after the fire, and as soon as we were able to house the same, there were many additions made by gift and purchase. The principal accessions were: Dr. Willis G. MacDonald bequest, donated by his father, of 1,800 volumes, of which 621 were textbooks and 623 bound periodicals: The Dr. A. VanderVeer gift, about 1,900 volumes, of which nearly 400 were textbooks, and of the balance nearly eighty per cent. were bound periodicals:
Of the New York Academy of Medicine purchase, 16,413 volumes, 3,959 were textbooks, 2,554 bound periodicals and 9,900 unbound books and periodicals.

Shelved in the reading rooms at present, on open shelves, according to the catalogue of April 13, 1913, there are, excluding all serials, 5,888 volumes, of which about 3,959 are from the New York Academy of Medicine purchase, 621 from the MacDonald bequest and about 400 from the VanderVeer gift. Nearly 1,800 of these books, published since 1890, are in the reading room on open shelves. Earlier editions are shelved in the stack.

There have been smaller contributions and gifts from various sources that have not yet been catalogued. All gifts are acknowledged when received but it may be some time before they appear in the catalogue.

It is estimated that since the fire we have accumulated approximately 22,000 volumes. It will thus be observed that the Medical Library is recovering very rapidly since going into the Education Building, October, 1912.

Our aim is to collect complete sets of all important textbooks, medical serials, transactions of medical societies, and hospital bulletins. In addition we expect to have a good working collection of special treatises, cyclopedias and texts, as well as collections of medical biography and history.

At present our catalogue shows there are on the shelves 5,960 volumes of periodicals, 815 volumes of society proceedings, and 28 bound health reports.

Only 34 periodical sets are complete, but many others lack but a few volumes or numbers. A want list is being prepared as rapidly as possible. In our quarters in the basement we have excellent space for assorting all material and as soon as this can be accomplished we hope, by exchange, and otherwise, to complete our sets of periodicals, in due time restoring this portion of the Medical Library to its former usefulness. The broken sets of periodicals, thus far catalogued, and chiefly unbound, include more than 900 titles.

There are several thousand duplicates, including both textbooks and broken sets of periodicals, bound and unbound, but owing to our unsettled state, and small force of assistants, it will be a long time before they are available for sale or exchange, except, possibly, in the case of a few special sets. Physicians are earnestly requested to send gifts of books, periodicals or reprints. Even single volumes or odd numbers of periodicals of little value to the owner may help to complete valuable sets.

Soon after the fire practical offers of assistance began to come from state libraries, educational institutions and learned societies all over the world, and the Medical Library has been very handsomely remembered. In restoring the general library it became necessary for the State Librarian to enter the market somewhat, but with one or two exceptions the Medical Department has found it advisable to limit our purchases to modern works, hoping by exchange and other gifts to be able to complete our sets of periodicals; however, with the exceedingly good space we now have in the new building, and the very fine rooms allotted to the Medical Library, we are even now able to present to the members of the profession throughout the State a very valuable collection, from which they are able to secure up to date material for research work, or to consult the textbooks and journals, either personally or by correspondence.

Our library is now patronized by a larger number of readers than previous to the fire, and the evening openings are already better attended by our medical students.

The friends of the Medical Library wish to express to the State authorities their sense of appreciation for the amount of good that radiates throughout so great a portion of the Commonwealth, in placing before the members of the professional the very latest publications, and the ability to consult the best of medical journals, from this and other countries.

To catalogue and classify books requires, at a safe estimate, ten times as many people as it requires to buy the same books. This means that the State Library for some time must be late with its cataloging and classification. We must work within a circle of economy and can only have assigned to us a certain number of assistants so that at present we are somewhat embarrassed in not being able to develop much that is of great value in this accumulation of medical material. Recent publications are being added as rapidly as possible and every effort is being made to follow out suggestions from any reliable source, regarding books and periodicals which should be on the library shelves.

Unfortunately our resources are not such as to permit the purchase of many expensive publications, running up into the neighborhood of $200 to $300.

The Medical Library is receiving currently about 286 periodicals (67 in German and 33 in French); the proceedings or reports of 203 medical societies, and reports and bulletins of 52 boards of health, a total of 541 current serials. In addition to books received by purchase and gifts, and thousands of duplicates, the exact number impossible to estimate, which were stored in the Capitol out of reach of the fire, and in other buildings in Albany, have been systematically sorted, and from these have been selected the items needed for the new library. The remainder have been repacked and stored, constituting a new duplicate collection which will be available when it can be again unpacked and classified, to repay the large debt the Library owes to other libraries all over the country for courtesies received in the way of exchange and gift.

At this time I wish to refer to the very excellent service rendered the library by Miss Ada C. Bunnell, who served with energy and great intelligence for a period of nine years; in fact the successful building up of the library was
largely due to her efforts. We were exceedingly sorry to have her sever her connection with the work and have every reason to think of her with great gratitude.

Her successor, Miss Frances K. Ray, is doing her work in a very acceptable manner.

As we become better acquainted with our new Education Building it developed in an extremely satisfactory way, and within a very short time every space will be thoroughly occupied. In fact at present there is embarrassment in
locating some divisions.

At this time I wish to refer to the very excellent service rendered the library by Miss Ada C. Bunnell, who served with energy and great intelligence for a period of nine 3 ears; in fact the successful building up of the library was
largely due to her efforts. We were exceedingly sorry to have her sever her connection with the work and have every reason to think of her with great gratitude. Her successor, Miss Frances K. Ray, is doing her work in a very acceptable manner.

As we become better acquainted with our new Education Building it developed in an extremely satisfactory way, and within a very short time every space will be thoroughly occupied. In fact at present there is embarrassment in
locating some divisions.

(pages 35-30)

(photograph of new medical library quarters.)