For over 200 years the Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HSHSL) has provided the knowledge infrastructure for the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). The HSHSL has grown and thrived along with UMB. From Dr. John Crawford's founding collection in 1813 to today's digital collections, the HSHSL has evolved, meeting the needs of students, faculty, researchers, clinicians, regional partners, and so many others. While the iconic building at the corner of Greene and Lombard provides the bricks and mortar emblematic of the physical library, the HSHSL is the on-ramp to a world of digital transformation in scholarship, research, open access, data, archives, unique historical collections, and support for young researchers. Basic funding provided for the library is not enough for a library with aspirations to rise beyond the ordinary or just adequate.
Innovation is the hallmark of the HSHSL. From cutting-edge training courses to curricular integration. From health literacy to combatting misinformation. From local to regional outreach - the HSHSL is recognized as a leader among health sciences libraries.
Local, Regional, and National Impact. For over 35 years, the HSHSL has served as one of seven regional medical libraries for the National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of NIH. Competed every five years, this prestigious agreement provides a field force and funding for the many projects, products, and services of the NLM. The HSHSL has taken lessons learned from this project and applied them to outreach projects in West Baltimore, the state, the region, and beyond. This needs to grow.
Support for early career researchers AND open access. Three years ago the HSHSL launched a pilot project to help fund the author publication charges of young career researchers in open access journals. This needs to continue.
Preserving UMB's scholarship and heritage. The UMB Digital Archive, created and supported by the HSHSL, is a home to the "gray literature" of UMB - reports, videos, posters, and publications of diverse organizations that might be lost without this digital preservation. We would like to expand this role to include FAIR data - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable - from publications, - providing UMB scholars, authors, and researchers with a home for storing data included in publications and meeting the mandates of federal funding agencies. This needs to happen.
Data, innovation, and learning. Researchers and students needing support visualizing and manipulating of data or access to public data repositories, turn to the Center for Data and Bioinformation Services, located at the library. UMB innovators and entrepreneurs visiting the Innovation Space create low-cost 3D prototypes for experiments and their ideas. A Presentation Practice Studio, also in the library, provides a space to practice presentations and record materials for hybrid and online learning environments. These initiatives need to thrive.
Preparing the team for the future. The most valuable component of the HSHSL is its team of excellent staff and library faculty. Whether integrated into the curriculum, serving on Institutional Review Boards, building databases and repositories, contributing expertise to grants and contracts, or growing scholarship within their profession, this team is outstanding. They need to learn, expand their knowledgebase, and grow.
None of these exciting initiatives are supported by basic library funding which barely covers the cost of books and journals.
We cannot pursue or expand on any of these projects without your help.
Make Your Gift Online
Making a gift to the Health Sciences & Human Services Library via the University's Giving Website is easy and safe. Be sure to specify the Health Sciences and Human Services Library as the fund to receive your support.
Make Your Gift Offline
You may send a check, made payable to: University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation, Inc.
Send to:
Library Dean
Health Sciences & Human Services Library
601 West Lombard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-1512
Established during the 200th anniversary celebration of the founding of the HSHSL, this unrestricted fund provides support for any library need including special events, furnishings, technology, publication funds for young researchers, and many other non-state funded projects.
Dr. William Kinnard, former dean of the UMB School of Pharmacy established this unrestricted fund to support relaxation and rejuvenation from the rigors of university studies, research, and care through the provision of a comfortable place and current magazines and best sellers.
A longtime supporter of the HSHSL, Dr. Charlotte Ferencz established an endowment in support of the Library in digitizing collections and making them publicly accessible through the worldwide web.
Dr. Theodore Woodward, a UMB icon, for who the HSHSL Historical Collections Suite is named, endowed a general fund to meet any Library needs as they arise.
Technology underpins everything the HSHSL does and this endowment, established by the Helena Foundation and Dr. James and Sylvia Earl, ensures that new and emerging technologies can always be acquired.
A knowledgeable library faculty and staff are the lifeblood of the HSHSL. This endowment, established by the former Library Dean and her husband, supports learning and professional development not only for the Library Faculty and Staff but also for relevant programming for the university community.
