Weill Cornell Medical College Appoints Librarian

Carolyn Anne Reid Named to Frances and John L. Loeb Librarianship of Medicine

Jul 20, 2004

New York, NY

Weill Cornell Medical College has appointed Carolyn Anne Reid to the Frances and John L. Loeb Librarianship of Medicine and Director of the Medical College's Samuel J. Wood Library and C.V. Starr Biomedical Information Center.

Carolyn Anne Reid will be the second occupant of the Frances and John L. Loeb Librarianship of Medicine, following the tenure of Robert M. Braude, Ph.D. Since 2001, Ms. Reid has served as Acting Director of the Library.

I am very pleased to welcome Carolyn to this position one at which, as Acting Director, she has already shown herself to be so adept, says Dr. Antonio M. Gotto, Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. Through her stewardship, countless faculty-physicians and medical students have benefited from the Library's wealth of resources.

As part of her role as chief librarian for the Medical College, Ms. Reid plans to further a trend that is already well underway by offering the faculty and students of Weill Cornell broader access to resources especially electronic resources. As more electronic information becomes available including current and archived journal articles the Library's users will increasingly access this information from any location. At the same time, many will choose to visit the physical library because it is a comfortable and inviting space to meet colleagues, study, use one of the Library's wireless laptops, or collect and exchange information.

Previously, from 1987 to 2001, Ms. Reid was the Medical College Library's Associate Director, first as Associate Librarian, and later as Librarian. Between 1989 and 2001, Ms. Reid was also Adjunct Associate Professor of the Graduate School of Information and Library Science at the Pratt Institute in New York City.

Prior to joining Weill Cornell Medical College, Ms. Reid held positions at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha (1980-1987), and at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Medical Library (1971-1980). She earned a B.A. degree in Library Science and Speech and Theatre, in 1970, and a M.A. in Library Science and Computer Science, in 1971 both from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The Samuel J. Wood Library and the C.V. Starr Biomedical Information Center collection is made up of 175,000 volumes, including 70,000 books, 3,000 journal subscriptions, and a significant full-text electronic resource collection including 2,700 electronic full-text journals, more than 500 electronic books, and more than 100 databases. The Library is a member of numerous shared services and programs, including those of Weill Cornell Medical College/Qatar, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University, and The Hospital for Special Surgery as well as with other local medical libraries, and with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

The Library began with the founding of Weill Cornell Medical College in 1898, and opened at its present location in 1932. The library was remodeled in 1990, at the time of the opening of the C.V. Starr Biomedical Information Center, which doubled its space.

Ms. Reid is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Medical Library Association, the American Library Association, the Academy of Health Information Professionals, the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Library Administration and Management Association, the American Medical Informatics Association, and the Special Libraries Association. She is also a member of the Metropolitan New York Library Council Board of Trustees.

Among her many honors and awards, Ms. Reid received the Medical Library Association Estelle Brodman Award for Academic Medical Librarian of the Year, in 1992, and the National Library of Medicine Fellowship in Health Sciences Librarianship, 1970-1971. She has published several papers; given numerous presentations; and developed course material, taught, and consulted on a number of subjects.

The Loeb Librarianship was established in 1984 though a generous gift by Frances and John L. Loeb, long-time supporters of the Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Frances Loeb, a Cornell University graduate, was elected a member of the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College in 1983, and became Life Overseer in 1988. She also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University. She died in 1996. John L. Loeb served as a Governor of The Society of the New York Hospital from 1959 to 1972, and as a Life Governor until the time of his death in 1996. In January 1996, Frances and John L. Loeb were honored at Cabaret! NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell's major fundraising event for their support of both College and Hospital since 1959.