Introduction
The Brickell Medical Sciences Library is an academic/research facility serving Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. The Brickell library was established in 2000 and named in honor Dr. Edward E. Brickell, President Emeritus of EVMS. It is a state of the art facility housing a broad array of physical and online journals for use by the medical school faculty and students, regional healthcare providers, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, and the general public.
Digital Access
Digital Access (https://www.evms.edu/library/) to the library is fairly straightforward and comprehensive but many of the electronic journals and databases do require a login to access, however, there is a plethora of information that is freely available on a variety of topics ranging from drug information to wellness. Overall, the website is incredibly broad in its information and easy to navigate. All staff are represented on the site with their positions and contact information, including an “Ask a Librarian” feature and “Quick Links” for additional information and aid in research.
The Space & Physical Access
The building is centrally located on the EVMS campus, 740 W. Olney Rd., with a parking garage for visitors directly across the street. Approaching the building you will find an entrance rotunda with key access to the building and security who buzz in visitors and the public. The library consists of four floors with the majority of the library staff (technical, research, systems, etc.) and general circulation located on the first floor as you enter the building. This floor also contains the reference, reserve, student resource, and audiovisual collections. In addition, there is a large computer lab and classroom for student and faculty use on this floor.
The second, third, and fourth floors house the general collection with the third floor containing the cultural awareness collection. Individual study carrels and group work spaces with conference tables, flat panel displays, and white boards are scattered throughout the stacks for student use.
On the fourth floor is also the Thiemeyer History of Medicine Collection and Reading Room, a restricted area accessed with a librarian due to the collection of rare books and historical pieces, and the Fine Family Academy of Educators, a space for the advancement and training of faculty/educators.
All areas of the library are handicap accessible for persons with physical disabilities.
Services & Intellectual Access
Services of the library include – Ask a Librarian, Clinical Medical Librarian Program, which brings librarians into the hospital with medical students to do rounds and facilitate “best evidence’ searches for patient care, Interlibrary Loan, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which assists with searches on animal protocols in research, Institutional Review Board, Library Resource instruction offered by the librarians focusing on how to complete meaningful searches, locating databases,etc, Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education, and Virtual Library of Virginia both cooperative borrowing services.
The general organization of the journal collection is alphabetical by title and by date of publication with books prior to 1986 on the fourth floor and 1986 to the present on the third floor. Any current journal is received and accessed electronically.
People – Patrons & Staff
The patrons of the Brickell Library are a diverse group of medical students, educators, and professionals that are connected to EVMS. The roughly seventeen member staff is also a rather diverse group, but is incredibly interested in further diversity among their ranks. It consists of technical services, systems, research, interlibrary loan, circulation librarians, and a variety of support “assistant” staff members all of whom were working with or for various members of the EVMS community. It was a warm, comfortable place as far as the attitude of the staff was concerned.
Collections
The library houses a wide variety of collections for patron use beginning with the reference collection which contains everything from indexes and handbooks to student dissertations/theses. The Lay Health Collection is medical information written for the layperson, or general public and open to them as such for research purposes and, the St. Jude Collection which are the classic texts of medicine. The library’s Reserve Collection consists of required course materials, and the student resource collection holds student donated materials such as textbooks and study guides. Other collections include the print journal holdings and AV materials which are available online along with equipment to utilize the materials. Of particular note is the Thiemeyer Medical History Collection, a collection of over 1,000 items ranging from books to medical instruments donated to the school by prominent Norfolk physicians dating back to the American Revolution.
The library manages to fulfill the school’s general mission of providing patient-centered, high quality care and learning to its students. It is a fascinating institution with an amazing mission and high degree of professionalism while still feeling like a place of connection and inclusion.