About the NYAM Library

The New York Academy of Medicine Library houses one of the largest medical collections open to the general public in the United States. The main collection consists of over 550,000 volumes, as well as current journal subscriptions and a wealth of electronic resources.

The Malloch Rare Book Room houses a significant portion of the rare book collection, in addition to many of the secondary sources related to the history of medicine and the history of books and printing. These materials are available for use as part of NYAM's commitment to enhancing the health of the public and to promoting scholarship in the history of medicine and public health.

The New York Academy of Medicine will be launching a new Center for the History of Medicine and Public Health. The Center will serve to promote the scholarly and public understanding of the history of medicine and public health and the history of the book. The aim of the new Center is to build bridges among an interdisciplinary community of scholars, educators, clinicians, curatorial and conservation professionals, and the general public. More news about the Center and its programs and activities will be forthcoming in 2012.

Although our primary emphasis will change as the Center’s programs develop, the NYAM Library remains committed to serving the needs of the general public and health care professionals. We will continue to provide reference and information services to members of the general public who need assistance doing research about current medical or public health topics with the understanding that some materials they discover may be available only on a pay-per-view basis or by requesting them from other libraries. The general public will be encouraged to use the NYAM Library primarily for research questions related to the history of medicine and public health, rather than to obtain current medical information.

Except for materials concerning the history of medicine and the history of the book, our holdings are now limited to items published before 2001. The library no longer collects contemporary materials in clinical medicine, although we will continue to add grey literature materials to the collection and publish the Grey Literature Report. Contemporary information services will be provided using the serials to which we continue to subscribe, full text electronic databases, document delivery, and inter-library loan. Our electronic databases include MD Consult, which provides access to full text medical journal articles. We also remain an active member in several resource sharing programs that allow us to interact with major medical libraries in the United States and internationally. Our relationship with these libraries gives us access to most medical information not held at NYAM via inter-library loan. We remain open to the public via appointment. Please consult the Library web pages for our hours, services, and fees.