In 1940, after the Soviet occupation, the healthcare system began to undergo reorganization. As part of this process, the Central Scientific Library of Medicine was established. By Order No. 160 § 1,2 of the People’s Commissar of Health of the Lithuanian SSR dated April 2, 1941, the number of library staff positions was approved (6,5 positions). Very little is known about the first steps of its operation. On June 11 of the same year, the Health Commissariat announced the establishment of the medical library in the newspaper Tiesa (en. Truth). It stated: “Based on the organizational principles of the Central Scientific Library of Medicine of the USSR People’s Commissariat of Health and the experience of other republican scientific libraries of medicine, all medical literature must be collected in one place, where bibliographic, consultative, and methodological assistance will be provided to a wide range of medical personnel, both in Vilnius and in the provinces. The State Scientific Library of Medicine accepts donated books and purchases various medical literature in all languages”.
The library was established in Vilnius, on Sierakausko Street, and its collection was primarily formed from doctors’ personal collections. However, it existed only for a few dozen days. The war devastated both the library building and its books. No documents have survived to provide evidence of the library’s activities.
After the war passed, on October 9, 1944, the People’s Commissar of Health issued Order No. 60 to restore the operations of the State Central Scientific Library of Medicine.
The library had to be created from scratch. Therefore, this date is considered the official founding date of the library. (The name of the library changed later: from 1952 – the State Scientific Library of Medicine; from 1990 – Lithuanian Library of Medicine).
Only limited data exists about the first four years of the library’s existence. The only invaluable document is the manuscript “Orders of the Director of the State Scientific Library of Medicine”. Since 1948, annual activity reports of the library have been preserved; until 1988, these were written in Russian language. One copy of each report was sent annually to Moscow – to the All-Union Central Scientific Library of Medicine, the methodological center for medical libraries in the Soviet Union.
The first director of the library was appointed to be Professor Stasys Čepulis (from 1951 – Head of the Department of Surgery at the Kaunas Medical Institute). In his first official order, the director described the purpose of the Library of Medicine as follows: it is “an organizational-methodological and informational bibliographic center for all medical libraries of the Republic. It also supplies literature and bibliographic information to the staff of the Health Protection Commissariat”.
In January 1945, the library employed 12 people: the Director, a secretary, 8 bibliographers, an accountant and a cleaner. Based on the functions performed, the library’s structure was formally approved at the beginning of 1946. It consisted of: the administration, reading room, book storage and lending department, bibliography, circulation and expedition departments, property and inventory department, and a bookbinding division. That same year, the Scientific Council of the State Scientific Library of Medicine was formed, consisting of 9 members, including doctors and researchers: prof. Pranciškus Šivickis, prof. Benjaminas Zacharinas, associate prof. Moisejus Leonas Koganas, senior lecturer Petras Baublys, dr. Jokūbas Skliutauskas, director Georgijus Gavronskis, and deputy director Zigmas Guronis. In 1949, a publishing office was established under the Council, responsible for publishing regulatory documents and informational materials prepared by the Ministry of Health and the State Scientific Library of Medicine.
The library’s activities were regulated by instructions sent from the All-Union Central Scientific Library of Medicine, which were adapted to suit the newly established library. These included approved guidelines for managing the library collection, primary work accounting forms, and more.
The annual reports from 1948 to 1950 describe in detail the journey of a book from acquisition to the reader. In 1946, cataloging schemes with examples of bibliographic descriptions were developed, and the creation of the library catalogs began. Since there were no typewriters available, bibliographic descriptions were written by hand. Even today, handwritten cards can still be found in the library’s card catalogs.
From the very first days of the library’s existence, the active acquisition of medical literature began. The core of the library’s collection was formed from books and journals donated by Kaunas Medical Institute and individual medical professionals. A significant number of books were received from the exchange fund of the Central Scientific Library of Medicine in Moscow. The first books and personal collections were donated by medical scholars such as Professors Vytautas Girdzijauskas, Liubomiras Laucevičius, Tomas Kairiūkštis, Shackelis Kibarskis and others.
A large portion of the literature also came from medical libraries and research institutes in Moscow and other republics of the Soviet Union. A practice was introduced whereby individuals who donated books were allowed, in return, to acquire books from the library’s duplicate collection. To manage the surplus of duplicate books, a small “kiosk” operated within the library. The funds collected from these sales were used to purchase new literature.
In it’s very first years, the founder of the library – the Health Protection Commissariat of the Lithuanian SSR – allocated 25,693.50 rubles to fund the library’s operations. In 1945, the amount increased to 39,200 rubles. Each year, funding for literature acquisition was increased. Books were purchased from the newly established Lithuanian Library Collector, the Central Scientific Libraries Collector in Moscow, and from bookstores. At that time, the library did not receive legal deposit copies, so publications from various institutes and scientific institutions reached the library irregularly and not in full. Excerpts from the library’s annual activity reports highlight the shortage of foreign medical literature. Only medical books and journals from Eastern countries reached the reader. It was not until 1966 that journals from capitalist countries began to be subscribed to – these were sent in microfilm format by the All-Union Scientific Institute of Medical and Medical-Technical Information and the Central Scientific Library of Medicine in Moscow. At that time, this was the only way to form a more comprehensive collection of foreign periodicals.
Over the course of five years, a total of 118,800 documents (books, journals, microfilms) were collected. Of these, 32,000 copies were distributed to subscription points operating in the provinces.
The structure of the library’s collection consisted of medical books and journals, social and political literature (every library was required to collect the works of Marxist-Leninist classics), and fiction books. Later, to save funds, the acquisition of fiction literature was discontinued, and the existing collection was transferred to the Health Resorts Administration, which distributed the books to sanatorium libraries.
During the Soviet era, the library’s collection – especially foreign literature – suffered greatly due to the so-called annual “collection purges”. For example, in 1949, the Minister of Health issued an order: “Remove from libraries and from official use all politically harmful literature, in agreement with the Main Administration for Literature and Publishing” (Glavlit). As a result, 8000 books were selected (almost as many as were acquired that year) and transferred to the special collections of Vilnius University. In 1951, as many as 11000 foreign medical books and journals were sent to special collections. Such “purges” occurred almost every year.
However, the library staff never lacked civic-mindedness and strong determination to preserve medical literature for future generations.
Concern for the fate of old medical books have begun to grow. There were plans to establish a Museum of Medical History at the State Scientific Library of Medicine, where monuments of medical science would be preserved. Starting in 1948, unique 18th-19th century publications began to be acquired from antiquarian bookshops, and dissertations by Vilnius University scholars from the early 19th century were collected. Although the dream of establishing a Medical Museum alongside the library was never realized, over time a unique collection of historical medical literature was formed. It now consists of 5000 historically valuable and interesting medical books, including encyclopedias, reference works, textbooks, and monographs dating from the 16th century up to 1917. The collection includes works by some of the most prominent interwar Lithuanian medical professionals – Petras Avižonis, Jonas Kairiūkštis, Vincas Kuzma, Vytautas Lašas, Pranas Mažylis, and others.
In 1945, the circulation department began serving readers, and their number increased every year. According to the 1949 report, 980 medical workers used the library that year (at that time, Vilnius had 452 doctors and 1096 nurses). Efforts were made to find ways to “attract” readers to the library. Medical workers were sent personal invitations to visit the library, and informational leaflets and brochures about the library’s services were distributed in healthcare institutions. By 1964, the library had 2318 registered readers; by 1974, this number had doubled, and in 1984, a total of 7840 individuals were registered, including medical science workers, practicing physicians, students, and professionals from related fields such as psychology and biology.
One of the main tasks of the People’s Commissariat of Health in the post-war years was to eliminate the consequences of war – namely, the spread of infectious diseases – by organizing a wide network of health posts across Lithuania. To ensure that medical books would reach every doctor in the country, the library established book distribution points, of which 80 were operating in towns and villages by 1948. The People’s Commissar of Health instructed the library director to approve the lists of staff for these points and to organize their training. A postal subscription service was also established. Through the “Books by Mail” fund organized by the library, rural doctors could, for a small fee, receive lists of available medical literature by mail or purchase the desired books.
Libraries were being established in sanatoriums, districts, and county hospitals. That same year, 13 full-time employees were working in the libraries of medical institutions and medical schools across the Republic. As a result, the need arises to manage the growing network of medical libraries and to provide qualified methodological support. Therefore, in 1948, a Methodological Office was established at the library. According to an approved program, training courses for staff of the library network began to be organized at the State Scientific Library of Medicine (SSLM). In addition to Marxist-Leninist fundamentals, the courses included library science theory and practice. The first training course was attended by 23 people. Frequent business trips by library staff to network libraries were aimed at providing on-site methodological assistance and communication with the administration of hospitals or sanatoriums. The Methodological Office collected statistical reports from medical libraries, analyzed their performance, and provided recommendations for improvement. The number of libraries in healthcare institutions and sanatoriums grew rapidly. In 1951 alone, 11 new libraries were established, and 7000 duplicate books were allocated to them. SSLM took care of building up these libraries’ collections and purchased the necessary library equipment for them.
Drawing on the experience of union-level medical libraries and their own organizational practices, a significant number of methodological publications were prepared and published. These served as guiding resources for staff working in the medical library network. In addition to methodological recommendations covering specific areas of library work–such as literature acquisition and organization, catalog and card index creation, reader services, and more. More comprehensive publications were also released. These included: The Minimum Standards for Medical Library Work, first edition (Vilnius, 1954, 36 pages) and second edition (Vilnius, 1962, 16 pages), as well as The Library of Medicine Worker’s Manual (Vilnius, 1971, 92 pages).
In the early years of the library’s existence, staff turnover was quite frequent. It is no secret that many people assigned to work at the library were sent by party structures, had completed military service, or were otherwise individuals with no understanding of library work. Much hope was placed in hiring medical students, with the expectation that they would remain at the library after graduation. However, only a few medical graduates continued working as both doctors and bibliographers for any length of time. To improve work quality, staff underwent evaluations. Over time, staff turnover decreased, and more knowledgeable and experienced professionals began to emerge. Additionally, the situation improved when, in 1949, Vilnius University began training highly qualified librarians and bibliographers. Many of these graduates eventually joined the staff of the State Scientific Library of Medicine.
In 1947, the Information and Bibliography Department was established, staffed by three employees. The functions of this department included: providing researchers with subject-specific information in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s approved scientific work plan; offering both individual and group information services; assisting readers with catalog use; compiling recommended reading lists; and other related tasks.
The growth of the library’s collection and the corresponding expansion of catalogs and card indexes highlighted the need to educate readers in bibliographic literacy. Various forms and methods were explored. Posters explaining the library’s catalog and card index system were created; new readers received orientation sessions on how to use the library; and exhibitions of informational publications were organized. The library repeatedly approached the administration of Vilnius University’s Faculty of Medicine with requests to introduce an elective course in medical bibliography (such a course was later taught to students at both Kaunas Medical Institute and Vilnius University’s Faculty of Medicine). Bibliographic literacy lectures were also delivered during professional development courses for physicians. Additionally, radio broadcasts on health topics were used to disseminate information.
The library’s information services continuously improved, with a significant qualitative leap occurring in the early 1960s. This development was linked to the growth of scientific potential in the field of medicine in Lithuania, the increasing availability of medical information sources, and new ways of delivering that information. In 1964, the Department of Scientific Medical and Medical-Technical Information (later renamed the Information Department) was established. Its main task was to provide prompt and comprehensive information to specialists involved in the management, planning, and scientific research activities of medical institutions, as well as to healthcare professionals engaged in practical work. New forms of collective and selective user services were introduced, along with information days and the publication of informational bulletins. In 1967, the establishment of the Republican Department of Scientific Medical-Technical Information at the base of the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine led to some duplication of activities – such as thematic inquiries and selective information delivery. Later, the work became more coordinated.
The work carried out by the library staff in the field of specialized bibliography has been important for the development of healthcare and medical science in Lithuania.
Already in 1945, with the establishment of the Lithuanian Book Chamber, work began on developing a retrospective-registration bibliography. This gave momentum to the emergence of specialized medical bibliography. Starting in 1949, recommended reading lists on various timely topics (such as health education, medical dispensary care, infectious disease prevention, etc.) were published for practicing physicians. Over time, more extensive thematic publications were prepared and published for researchers on topics such as electrocardiography, medical radiology, digestive pathology and physiology, oncology, and rheumatology. At the 1962 national bibliographers’ plenary meeting, guidelines for bibliographic work were adopted, defining the role of the scientific library as an organizer of bibliographic activities in its respective field. This marked the beginning of planned and coordinated bibliographic work across all sectoral libraries. The State Scientific Library of Medicine was assigned the responsibility of collecting medical Lituanica and submitting bibliographic records to the Book Chamber, which compiled the Press Chronicle.
In Lithuanian Medical Bibliography, Vladislovas Kviklys wrote about the importance of bibliography for science and practice: “With the extraordinarily rapid increase in the number of medical publications and articles, scientific and practical work by physicians would be impossible without proper bibliography. A practicing doctor can only be a good specialist if they constantly keep up with past and current developments in their field – treating various diseases, organizing preventive measures, and so on. Without appropriate bibliographic indexes, one could drown in the sea of medical publications and articles.” (Vilnius, 1963, vol. 2, p. 5-6).
In the early 1960s, the planned publication of large-scale thematic bibliographic works began. These included Complications in Antibiotic Treatment, Parts 1 and 2 (Vilnius, 1960, 77 pages; Vilnius, 1966, 311 pages), and Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology of the Pancreas (Vilnius, 1968, vol. 1, 719 pages; Vilnius, 1972, vol. 2, 1045 pages). Other medical research institutions and libraries also became involved in bibliographic work. The library published the index Lithuanian Oncological Literature (Vilnius, 1966, 278 pages), prepared by V. Kriaučiūnienė, head of the library at the Oncology Research Institute. In cooperation with the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, V. Kirsnys and D. Baronienė compiled the extensive bibliographic publication Lithuanian Resorts (Vilnius, 1969, 205 pages). Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine lecturers G. Česnys and S. Pavilonis prepared the index Bibliography of Lithuanian Anthropology (Vilnius, 1974, 237 pages), among others. The most significant work in specialized bibliography was Lithuanian Medical Bibliography, first published in 1957 and later renamed Lithuanian Medical Literature starting with the 4th volume. By 1992, 11 volumes had been published. Later, due to insufficient funding, the publication was discontinued; however, materials continued to be recorded, organized, and preserved in the library’s card catalogs.
It is important to note that no specialized bibliographic work would be possible without the assistance of experts in the respective fields. Many physicians took part in preparing bibliographies or contributed their advice – among them Vytautas Sirvydis, Algimantas Vidugiris, Gintautas Česnys, and others. One of them, Vladas Šimkūnas, is rightfully regarded as the founder of Lithuanian medical bibliography. His work continued by bibliographers such as Teresė Dragūnienė, Alma Černiūtė, and others.
In 1996, with the establishment of the Publishing Department, the responsibility for preparing informational bulletins and indexes for publication was transferred to it. A substantial number of bio-bibliographic indexes were compiled to honor distinguished Lithuanian physicians and medical scientists on their birthdays or professional anniversaries. These publications reflect not only the individuals’ works published in Lithuanian and foreign press and medical databases but also include iconographic material and bibliographical information about them.
Throughout the library’s history, more than 380 informational and methodological publications, as well as thematic recommended literature indexes and lists, have been published for healthcare professionals in various fields.
The rapid growth of scientific information flows during the economic expansion of the 1970s and 1980s played a key role in the development of the national economy. How could such vast amounts of information be managed? How could users’ informational needs and their bibliographic literacy be identified and developed? These and other questions became the subjects of scientific research for specialists in scientific information.
VMMB staff, together with specialists from medical research institutes, studied the information flows of certain medical fields, analyzing their structure and dynamics, and identifying criteria for scientific value. At the time, the library’s director, Aldona Rėkuvienė, participated in the study “Certain Aspects of Lithuanian Rheumatology Information Flow”, conducted by the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine. Vida Tamulienė, head of VMMB branch located at the Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene, together with the institute’s researchers, investigated the relationship between incoming literature and ongoing research in the fields of epidemiology and hygiene between 1974 and 1980.
The sociological study of physicians’ reading habits conducted in 1981 by Regina Bucevičienė, Head of the Methodology Department, marked the start of systematic research work in the library. Its goal was to investigate and propose ways to distribute information resources more efficiently among medical libraries and their branches. The group study by Aldona Rėkuvienė, Teresė Dragūnienė, and Ramutė Juškauskienė, titled “Readers’ Information Needs”, clarified the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of secondary medical information sources and identified the optimal possibilities for their use.
The information needs of various groups of medical personnel were examined systematically. One of the more important studies – “The Professional-Literature Needs of Mid-Level Medical Staff”, conducted by Teresė Dragūnienė and Marija Surginevičienė in 1990-1991 – sought to explore in depth this group’s (now called nursing staff) reading interests and their attitudes toward the library and self-education in general. The research helped uncover shortcomings in the library’s work and the reasons behind the nurses’ informational limitations. The findings were shared with the relevant specialists at the Ministry of Health and with the heads of nursing staff qualification-improvement courses.
The topic of bibliotherapy was widely discussed at seminars for medical-library staff, national meetings, and in the press. The librarian’s role was highlighted: through reading material, to help patients overcome illness and regain delf-confidence. After all, a well-chosen book can be as important as properly prescribed medication; conversely, a poorly chosen one may trigger stress. Close cooperation between the attending physician and the librarian is therefore essential. Special demands are placed on medical-library personnel: to build the collection deliberately, to act as good psychologists, to maintain constant contact with the patient, and so forth. Enthusiastic physicians and librarians in this field even began drafting a methodology. In 1985 a meeting of medical-institution managers and library workers was held in Birštonas to discuss bibliotherapy. Later, in 1988, the Lithuanian Research Laboratory of Balneology, the Vilnius Library of Medicine, and the Lithuanian Scientific Society of Physiotherapists and Balneologists organized a scientific-practical seminar on the broader topic of aesthetotherapy and sanogenesis, where bibliotherapy again received considerable attention. It was noted that only a few sanatoriums and treatment facilities – such as Naujoji Vilnia Psychiatric Hospital, the Children’s Sanatorium in Nemenčinė, the Romainiai Tuberculiosis Hospital, the Druskininkai “Saulutė” Sanatorium, and others – had librarians actively engaged in this work. Elsewhere, library collections contained little fiction, many libraries were staffed by non-specialists, lacked reading rooms, and administrators paid insufficient attention to the issue. Unfortunately, the situation did not improve; it grew even more difficult, especially in the mid-1990s, when many medical institutions began closing their libraries for lack of funds.
The library’s development owed much to its ties with the libraries of other institutions. A major coordinating role was played by the Republican Interdepartmental Library Council, founded in 1960 and made up of representatives from various libraries. At its meetings the Council discussed coordination of bibliographic and methodological publications, the drafting of long-term plans, staff training, methodological guidance, and other matters. Managers of the VMMB also took part in the Council’s work. (After the adoption of the Lithuanian Libraries Act in 1995, the role of expert and consultant on the most important issues of library activity has been carried out by the Lithuanian Library Council).
Centralization of libraries in health-care institutions began in 1974. The aim was to create a network of libraries under unified administrative and financial management, with a shared staff, joint acquisition of literature, a common collection, and so forth. The VMMB was one of the first research libraries to join this effort. In 1976 the libraries of four medical institutions were recognized as VMMB branches.
The library’s departmental structure also changed in part: centralized units for literature acquisition, processing, and cataloguing were established, and several technological procedures were improved. Over time, the branches built medical literature collections that matched the profile of each healthcare or research institution, and the scientific work carried out there.
A new stage in the library’s life began with the restoration of Lithuania’s statehood. Inspired by the national revival and civic movements, the country’s library community started to organize itself. At the Lithuanian librarians’ congress on 29 June 1989, the Lithuanian Librarians’ Association (LBD) was re-established. On 25 April 1990 a 17-member LBD group was set up in our library, chaired by Salvinija Kocienė. The group approved an action programme that called for solving the problem of library premises, promoting the library in Lithuania and abroad, strengthening literature exchange with Western libraries, encouraging staff self-education, and collecting and systematizing material on the library’s history. All these issues remain relevant today, though they take on new nuances or are joined by fresh tasks. Since 1990 the LBD group has been headed by Regina Vaišvilienė. Its members have played an active role in the broader Lithuanian librarians’ movement, because the questions raised at the association’s first restored congress concerned the entire profession-establishing librarianship’s place in society, preserving libraries and defining their future status, professional renewal, remuneration, and more. Members of the library group were elected to the LBD Council and various working commissions. Gražina Miškinienė was especially energetic, chairing the Council’s seniors’ commission. Other staff members also take part in LBD activities, helping to organize conferences, congresses, and other events and campaigns. The group’s work is not limited to professional matters: its members are the chief initiators and organizers of the library’s various celebrations. Nor are the library’s longtime former employees forgotten – those who created and nurtured its fine traditions of work and fellowship.
At last, the dream of Lithuanian Library of Medicine staff and readers to have proper premises for the library was fulfilled. From its founding until 1990 the library occupied the third floor of the Ministry of Health building (27 Gedimino St.), while the stacks were in the basement. A vivid picture of the situation appears in the 1948 annual report: “The library is located in a modern, bright building – one of the finest in the city. The Ministry of Health has handed these rooms over to us, clearly depriving itself. In 1947 the Minister of Health approved the library’s development plan, based on which these premises were allocated. Yet they are too small for us. There are no storerooms for foreign literature, no reading room for researchers, and the bibliography department is housed in shared space, which causes many inconveniences. The library believes that the next five-year plan should include construction of a dedicated library building”. Although the stacks met standards of the day (no daylight, central heating, sufficiently dry rooms, a lift to send books to circulation desk, a direct telephone line to reader services), space soon grew tight as the collection expanded. To save room, in 1959 the books were reshelved by format. The ministry allotted a few more small basement rooms, but they were unsuited to book storage: dampness, frequent plumbing leaks, poor ventilation, and rodents were constant enemies of the collection. The long-held dream of a purpose-built library never materialized, even as the holdings grew rapidly, the library’s functions broadened, and reader traffic increased. Only in 1991 did the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, acting on a request from the Ministry of Health, assign the library a much roomier—though not new—building at 7 Kaštonų St. After a project to adapt the premises and a partial renovation, we celebrated a house-warming a year later. Our joy was short-lived. Various organizations and newly formed institutions kept coveting the building. By late 1994 the threat became real: one after another we received government resolutions and ministerial orders to move, with all our holdings and readers, first to the Medical School Library in Baltupiai, whose stacks could hold only 30,000 items (LMB’s collection then totaled 700,000). A second proposal offered the third and fourth floors of a disused factory in Žirmūnai. Studies and calculations by architects and structural engineers proved the absurdity of housing a 700,000-item collection in such spaces. The Government considered yet another option: merging the library with Vilnius University Library and selecting the “best part” of our holdings—10,000 books—for transfer, while writing off everything else. That would have meant the destruction of a library of national importance.
Unwilling to accept the officials’ proposals, we sought justice in the courts. The lawsuits lasted a year, taking us through every judicial level – district, appeal, and regional courts. Finally, in 1997 the Lithuanian Government’s resolution ordering the library to vacate its assigned premises was revoked.
It should be noted that we were not alone in this struggle. Our efforts to preserve the library were backed by many organizations: the Coordinating Council of Lithuanian Medical Organizations, the Vilnius Medical Club, the Lithuanian Medical Association, the Lithuanian Librarians’ Association, the Lithuanian Women’s League, and the Science Council. Thirty professors drew up a substantial petition, and Elizabeth Husem, President of the European Association of Medical Libraries, sent letters to the President and the Government. The issue was raised at a meeting of the Seimas Health-Protection Sub-committee, where members of parliament spoke out against Government’s decision. An appeal to the authorities not to evict the library from its building was signed by thousands of our readers in Vilnius and other cities across the country. This moral support buoyed us and inspired us not to give up. Our cause was further strengthened by the Lithuanian Libraries Act, adopted by the Government on 6 June 1995, which confirmed the LMB’s status as a library of national importance. The Act’s adoption was a landmark event for the entire library community: principles, mandated the protection of library collections, and provided safeguards against bureaucratic arbitrariness.
Once the Iron Curtain was lifted, a wave of charitable donations flowed into the library – huge consignments of Western medical materials sent by various organizations. These books and journals enriched the collections of the library and its branches.
In 1990 the library received its first donated computer, sent by Professor Cevin Croke of the University of Illinois in Chicago. That same year, we were gifted a shipment from compatriot Algimantas Ankus of Chicago – a medical bibliographic database, MEDLINE. This marked the beginning of a new era of information technology in our library.
Opportunities opened up to communicate with colleagues from Western Europe and the United States. Library staff returned from foreign conferences, seminars, and internships with a vision for a modern medical library. Forward-looking programs to modernize library workflows began to take shape. The collections were enriched by large consignments of Western medical materials donated by various international organizations.
In 1990 representatives of information services convened by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe concluded that the organization’s documents were not reaching the medical professionals developing health programs in the post-Soviet countries. It was therefore decided to establish WHO document centers whose purpose would be to disseminate the organization’s ideals through information channels and to help implement its global strategy. In 1993 the library was granted the status of a WHO Documentation Center and Depository Library. It now receives WHO documents and publication databases and has the right to reproduce and distribute them to the public without special permission. With the help of our compatriots and colleagues abroad, several very important projects have been carried out.
Aiming to help raise the qualifications of Lithuania’s health-care professionals, in 1994 Arvydas Vanagūnas – chair of the Lithuanian American Medical Association – Professor Jonas Račkauskas, head of the Lithuanian Research and Study Center in Chicago, and Dalia Lukas, audiovisual collections specialist at the U.S. National Library of Medicine, proposed setting up an Audiovisual Medical Teaching Materials Center in our library. The project was well received and funded by the Open Lithuania Foundation. Professor Račkauskas oversaw the purchase of the center’s equipment and its shipment to Lithuania, while NLM colleagues – and good friends – Dalia Lukas and Craig Locatis also lent their support. Today the center serves doctors, nurses, and students nationwide. Yet not everything originally envisaged was achieved. The center has survived, and continues to exist, solely in the goodwill of our friends’ donations. With insufficient funding, its collection of teaching aids is ageing, and the library cannot afford to acquire new materials.
A major milestone in the library’s history was the introduction of the Internet. In 1994 the Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, the Lithuanian Library of Medicine, and the U.S. National Library of Medicine signed a memorandum to connect the LMB and the Faculty of Medicine to the Internet. We prepared a joint project, funded by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. National Library of Medicine. I would like to acknowledge the project’s initiator and leader – Craig Locatis, an information-technology specialist at the U.S. National Library of Medicine – along with Richard Hsieh, then director of that library’s international programs; Jurgis Lendraitis, then president of Lithuanian Mercy Lift; and others whose efforts were crucial to the project’s success. The internet was ceremonially inaugurated on 20 June 1996. Our Western colleagues’ support went far beyond hardware. The U.S. National Library of Medicine allowed our medical professionals to use, free of charge for several years, the DOCLINE interlibrary document-ordering system via the Internet. Institutions that had only e-mail connectivity at the time were also offered the GRATEFUL MED search-and-order program, enabling queries in thirty medical databases. For our healthcare workers, this was an invaluable tool – the only way to obtain comprehensive, timely information of interest to them.
In 1997 we won the Open Society Fund’s (ALF) competition “Public Internet Reading Room”. Thanks to the ALF grant, an Internet reading room was set up, computerized reader workstations were installed in several LMB branches, and an Internet connection was established.
It is hard to overestimate the Open Lithuania Foundation’s role in the development of the country’s libraries. Since beginning its activities in 1990, the Foundation has provided financial support for several of our library projects and for our staff’s participation in conferences and seminars abroad.
As early as 1991, when Lithuania was taking its first steps toward independence, we received an invitation to collaborate and integrate into the network of European medical libraries. Library staff participated in – and delivered papers at – conferences and seminars of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL).
In 1993 the Lithuanian Library of Medicine (LMB), together with seven other research libraries, signed the “Agreement of Lithuanian Research Libraries”. This agreement led to the creation of the Association of Lithuanian Research Libraries, whose aim was to develop an Integrated Library Information System (LIBIS). After the State LIBIS Program was approved in 1997, work began on building a national union catalogue for the country’s research libraries and developing individual library modules.
In parallel with these efforts, the automation project of the Lithuanian Library of Medicine was carried out, greatly influenced by the steady development of the LIBIS program.
Since 1999, the bibliographic records created in the library have been sent to the national union catalogue of Lithuania’s research libraries. The LMB also began building its own electronic catalogue. To enable searches in that catalogue, the library’s subject-heading system is being developed using software from UAB Sintagma. This major undertaking was launched – and continues – by the staff of the Literature Cataloguing Department under the leadership of Danutė Kazlauskienė. Over time, the library has implemented software modules for cataloguing, acquisitions, reader services, interlibrary loan, and more. In 2003 LMB signed an agreement with the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania to supply component-part (analytic) records to the National Bibliographic Database.
The automation of library processes requires not only substantial financial resources but also expertise. The library is increasingly becoming an integrated environment where programmers and computer specialists work shoulder to shoulder with librarians, exchanging specialized knowledge. Basic computer literacy and Internet information-search courses were organized in the library, and almost all staff members enhanced their skills there. The LIBIS Center of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library trained the staff in mastering the automated subsystems.
The rapid development of medical science is driving the search for new, efficient ways to deliver information to users. An ever-growing share of the library’s information services now consists of virtual offerings: real-time online databases, electronic delivery of information, communication with users by e-mail, and more. Such virtual services make it possible to meet users’ information needs more quickly. In 1998 the LMB launched its website. Besides information about the library, its services, and its information resources, the site provides Internet addresses of medical information sources and other user-relevant content.
Participation in the activities of the Lithuanian Research Library Consortium (LMBA) is important for the LMB. LMBA’s main goals are to promote the creation of virtual libraries, subscribe to electronic databases, and advance librarians’ professional development. LMBA evaluates and tests electronic databases offered by foreign information providers and negotiates their acquisition on the most favorable terms. Today we can offer information users efficient, high-quality resources such as EBSCO Publishing, ProQuest, Springer, and others.
Developing the professionalism and competence of LMB staff has always been inseparable from the library’s core goals. Our librarians regularly take part in seminars and courses organized by the Lithuanian Cultural Workers’ Development Centre, the Library Continuing Education Centre, the Lithuanian Research Library Association, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library, and specialists from Vilnius University Faculty of Communication.
Internships, seminars, and conferences in Western European and U.S. medical libraries – along with the generous help of our foreign friends – have been invaluable in rising the staff’s professional level. Traineeships were undertaken at the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Lund University (Sweden), and at medical information centers and libraries in Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Hungary. Cooperation with foreign colleagues continues today. Especially important for the professional development of medical-library staff have been the Continuing Education Courses organized for several years by the Norwegian Medical Library Association, held at Kaunas University of Medicine and in Norway. These courses provide an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues from other Northern European countries and share work experience.
Medicine is a rapidly evolving, dynamic field of science and practice in which views on the origin, diagnosis, and treatment of a particular disease can change in just a few years. Therefore, having the latest evidence-based information and the opportunity to share knowledge with one another is especially important for medical professionals.
In recent years, considerable attention has been devoted to effective information provision and retrieval grounded in Evidence-Based Medicine methodology. This represents a qualitatively new sphere of work for the library’s information specialists. Since 2000 the Lithuanian Library of Medicine has taken part in the Lithuanian Health Project, financed by the Work Bank. Project funds have been used to establish an Information Centre with computerized workstations, upgrade the library’s local computer network, and subscribe to medical information databases.
After the Government of the Republic of Lithuanian approved the “Lithuanian Information Society Development Programme”, the Ministry of Health joined its implementation, encouraging its subordinate institutions to prepare projects. Because of objective factors – such as the lack of computer equipment, Internet access, and information-work specialists – the latest medical information reaches physicians working in outlying areas the least. Around the world, general and specialized medical databases, training programs, and electronic versions of medical journals are being created and made available online. Unfortunately, health care institutions in Lithuania, despite their significant scientific and clinical potential, lack the funds to develop information infrastructure, maintain continuous Internet connections, and subscribe to databases. Taking this situation into account, a project was drafted with the goal of creating a unified system for disseminating medical information and knowledge in health-care institutions. The plan called for introducing information technologies in fifteen of the most promising network libraries, providing training for information specialists, and offering courses for medical staff. Most importantly, it aimed to subscribe to medical information resources, giving users in peripheral areas the ability to conduct searches.
Using information resources requires certain knowledge and skills. Long-term practice has shown that physicians often lack basic literacy and information-search abilities. Students’ curricula include only an introductory computer course, and a specialist’s level of information literacy is not considered when assessing professional qualifications. To address this, systematic work began in 1999. Under the Open Lithuania Foundation’s “Internet for Physicians” programme, our library organized courses titled “Introduction to Computers and the Internet” and “Searching for Medical Information on the Internet”. After the programme ended, the library continued these courses on its own initiative. During six academic hours of theory and practice, participants are introduced to the main online medical information sources, their structure, and criteria for selecting information.
The new information technologies that have arrived in the library have not eclipsed our readers’ interest in traditional information sources – books and periodicals. Unfortunately, insufficient budget funding hinders our goal and desire to build a library collection that fully meets readers’ needs. The library’s financial situation began to deteriorate in 1999 when, due to the country’s general economic downturn, the Ministry of Finance reduced appropriations by 26%. This made the systematic development of the collection impossible. Charity and donations became the main source of acquisitions. The annual allocations fall short of the real level of funding needed to sustain the library’s operations. This, inevitably, hampers the achievement of our stated goals and tasks. As a result, collection development, the library’s material and technical base, and the social welfare of library staff all suffer. Moreover, as new technologies advance and information flows intensify, the library’s computer hardware and software must be periodically updated. LMB’s participation in various projects brings unquestionable benefits, but for a library of national importance to fulfil its assigned mission, it needs sustained attention from the government.
The Lithuanian Library of Medicine is not only a Mecca of knowledge; it is also a lively cultural venue. On the last Friday of every month the Academy of Active Longevity meets here, and the conference hall hosts gatherings of physicians and librarians. Over the past decade the library has become a magnet for art lovers as well. In the library’s small art gallery painting, graphic art, photographs, and folk art are on continuous display. The annual exhibitions of “Club 13 and K?” (led by Dr. Danguolė Survilaitė) have become a tradition. Thanks to the tireless efforts of former LMB staff member and artist Viktorija Daniliauskaitė, an ever-growing number of professional and emerging artists choose our library for their shows. On her initiative a visual arts collection has been assembled, comprising 115 ex-libris and 57 paintings and graphic works. Meetings with artists, writers, and poets are held regularly. New books by Lithuanian medical authors are presented to the public; centenary anniversaries are marked; literary exhibitions are organized – many in cooperation with the Vincas Kudirka Medical Writers’ Society. Numerous literary and jubilee displays travel beyond the library, appearing in health-care institutions and on Ministry of Health stands. A few years ago, a literary exhibition dedicated to Professor Emilis Vinteleris of interwar Lithuania’s Kaunas University of Medicine was sent to the museum of Mollis in the Swiss canton of Glarus.
Director Salvinija Kocienė
