Background & History of the Lilienfeld Library

The Abraham M. Lilienfeld Memorial Library was dedicated in May 1990 in honor of Dr. Lilienfeld (1920-1984), a long term JHU faculty member and the father of modern epidemiology. Dr. Lilienfeld was instrumental during the mid-1960s in the movement to establish library services in the School of Hygiene and Public Health. The result of his effort was the founding of the Interdepartmental Library in 1967. That library, located in the Hygiene building, combined the reading room collections of a number of different departments in one central location and under the care of a professionally trained library staff. It grew to become the institution named in his honor. Observant patrons will notice stamps for the Department of Public Health Administration, the Department of Chronic Diseases, the Department of Epidemiology, International Health, and Mental Hygiene on some of the older books.

The Interdepartmental Library was established to meet the specialized information needs of the students of the School of Hygiene and Public Health, needs which it was felt were not being met by other Hopkins Libraries. The new library's collection was interdisciplinary in nature, reflecting the varied backgrounds and interests of the School's students and faculty. Its collection was inherently less clinical in nature than the other libraries on the Medical Campus. For example, there has always been a strong focus on collecting works pertaining to the social and political aspects of health care.

As the field of public health grew and developed over the last thirty years, it became clear that a more modern facility would be needed. In 1990 the Library was moved to its present location on the top floor of Hampton House, in a newly renovated space. Designed by the architectural firm of Verkerke, Boyles, and Linehan, the new Lilienfeld Library was included in the architectural issue of Library Journal, the year of its opening.

The Lilienfeld Library is still the primary resource for information for JHU's Public Health students. The last fiscal year saw the Lilienfeld staff service over 38,000 patrons, from all divisions of The Johns Hopkins University and Hospital. As of June 2008 the Hampton House collection numbers over 20,400 titles, with approximately 150 journals. This collection is especially strong in epidemiology, the study of infectious diseases, health policy and management, the social aspects of health care, and HIV and the AIDS pandemic. The Lilienfeld Library also includes demography, population studies, family planning, reproductive health, and the U.S. census.

Terminals, with printers, for searching the catalog of the Johns Hopkins libraries can be found at the Lilienfeld Librarys. These terminals also provide access to a variety of databases and to the Internet.

Materials placed on reserve by faculty members can also be found at the Library. Audiovisual materials placed on reserve for Public Health classes are located at Hampton House.

In 1997 the Lilienfeld Library became a branch of the Welch Medical Library. For many years the Lilienfeld Libraries had piggy-backed on the Welch catalog and utilized Welch's other electronic resources. The assimilation of the Lilienfeld Library finally cemented that relationship. A valid Welch Library barcode is needed to check out books and reserve materials and to access database available through Welch. Lilienfeld adheres to all policies of the Welch Library.

Last Updated: September 26, 2008 Donna Hesson