The Ingersoll Bowditch Library serves the entire Faulkner Hospital community. In support of patient care, the medical teaching programs, continuing medical education, academic affiliations and other knowledge based programs, the library maintains a clinical collection of the latest books in the specialties we serve, receives over 200 journals, and provides reference services, interlibrary loans, computerized access to clinical bibliographic and full-text literature. Since this is a non-circulating library, all materials must be used onsite.

The librarian is able to provide answers or referrals to most medically related questions. Most information can be found through our numerous electronic databases, though directories, encyclopedias and dictionaries, and physician/ hospital guides may also be used. Training is also provided as requested or needed.

Because of our size, we provide individualized attention and instruction in an intimate setting not possible in the larger libraries. We can customize our services as we continually assess the needs of our users and react to the new situations as they arise. Anticipating user needs is a hallmark of the library's service.

The library is centrally located on the 4th floor (across from the Chief of Medicine's suite and down the hall from the Chief of Surgery). The library's main room is open 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. The main room and office are staffed by library personnel, weekdays, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office, which houses a "Core Collection" of the latest books, is closed weekends and holidays. After hours access is available for hospital staff via the Security Department.

The library's main room contains a clinical collection of texts, telephone and photocopier. The library also holds more than 200 different journals and maintains back files of at least 10 years (more in the case of the major journals). It receives four daily newspapers: The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Our four computers allow the medical staff the ability to search various databases, including bibliographic literature, full-text articles, pharmacological information and patient information.