We read to know we are not alone.
–C.S. Lewis
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested.
– Francis Bacon
As you enter the library on the third floor, take the first turn to the left and you’ll pass the Hardin Library Browsing Collection, a shelf-full of books by such disparate authors as, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, E.B. White, and William Carlos Williams. The books all have one thing in common: they are works from the humanities, arts, social sciences, and religion that are directly or indirectly related to the healing arts. While many of the books are duplicated in the Main Library or in the Hardin stacks, this smaller assemblage offers an opportunity for users to browse books they might not otherwise encounter. All of the books may be checked out by staff and students. The initial funding and book drive for the browsing collection was provided by the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society around 20 years ago. Since that time, the collection has grown through both formal and informal donations which are always welcome. The next time you find yourself in the library, take a few minutes to glance at some of these classic works – you may find yourself coming back often.
Recent additions to the Browsing Collection
- What patients taught me: a medical student’s journey, by Audrey Young [R729.5 .R87Y68 2004]
- Mountains beyond mountains, by Tracy Kidder [R154 .F36K53 2003]
- Complications: a surgeon’s notes on an imperfect science, by Atul Gawande [RD27.35 .G39A3 2002]
- The Doctor’s quotation book: a medical miscellany, by Robert Wilkins [R705 .D63 1992]
