History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

Medical Libraries in Illinois Preceding 1900 459so far as it being of any benefit to the students is concerned, it might aswell be located in Iceland."The agitation for a college library came from the students themselvesand began with the plea expressed three months earlier (January 1897):"W'hv can't Rush have a library? A few hundred dollars a year devoted tomedical literature would give us, in a short time a fair start. Charge eachstudent a dollar, or two dollars, or five dollars, if necessary, as a libraryfee; he can well afford it. Whatever the plan, let us have the books."In the discussions which followed immediately in subsequent issues ofThe Corpuscle, most opinions strongly favored a central college library.Dr. }. H. Etheridge, however, was frankly dubious about the value of sucha library, saying it would be useful to seniors of Rush Medical Collegebut impracticable for the rank and file of students, while Dr. E. FletcherIngals wrote: "With the enormous amount of work now crowded into thecurriculum, it is impossible for many students to do much outside reading."The most effective champion of the students for the establishment of areference library at Rush Medical College was Dr. Ludvig Hektoen. In theApril 1897 number of The Corpuscle, Dr. E. L. Kenyon stated: "Morethan ordinary praise is due Professor Hektoen for inaugurating the planof departmental libraries. This system which is proving of such value inour literary colleges, includes, ultimately, the establishment of a specialcollection of books in each department, to be used by the students underthe guidance of their teachers." And several months laterthe followingstatement is found: "Starting with his own private library as a nucleus,Prof. Hektoen has, with the assistance of the College Faculty, built up alibrary of considerable importance."That the efforts of Dr. Hektoen did not rest with the development ofdepartmental libraries but envisioned the objective of their consolidationas a central reference library, became immediately apparent. In 1898, upondie affiliation of Rush Medical College with the University of Chicago,President William Rainey Harper became interested in the developmentof Rush, 9 and presided at many of the faculty meetings. At one of thesemeetings "he asked that every one present indicate what he thought wasespecially needed to improve working conditions at the College. When myturn came, I said, among other things, that there was a great need of alibrary, whereupon President Harper solemnly said 'Amen.' "Thus the library began, and on March 15, 1899, the Students Libraryofficially opened its doors with about 250 volumes from the Pathology8Hektoen, Ludvig: Notations on the history of the Library of Rush Medical College.These notations were dictated by Dr. Hektoen to Miss Caroline Riechers, librarian atRush from 1939 to 1953, in letter form on July 30, 1941, for the historical records ofthe library.