Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library History

The Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library at the University of Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati Health Sciences Library traces its earliest beginnings to small collections of books and journals in various colleges. In 1974, the libraries at the College of Medicine and Cincinnati General Hospital merged when a Health Sciences Library was opened in the new Medical Sciences Building. Over the years, the Pharmacy Library, the Kettering Laboratory/Environmental Health Departmental Library, and the Nursing Library merged with the Health Sciences Library.

The University of Cincinnati reached a milestone in the summer of 2008 with the opening of the splendid Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library. This library is situated in the midst of a soaring, light-filled space that joins the new Center for Academic and Research Excellence (CARE)/Crawley Building with the existing Medical Sciences Building on UC’s Academic Health Center campus. Teaching, learning, and research flourish in this impressive complex of research labs, teaching labs, health sciences library, faculty offices, classrooms, and student support areas.

The library is named for Donald C. Harrison, M.D., Senior Vice President and Provost for Health Affairs from 1986-2002, whose vision and generosity brought this project to fruition. When the UC Board of Trustees named the library for Dr. Harrison in March 2008, he said, “The library is a critical component of the education, research, and clinical care mission of the Academic Health Center. It provides a service that is absolutely essential. It lies in the heart of our new building and, in many ways, acts like the lifeline for UC’s up-and-coming physicians, scientists and health professionals.”

The state-of-the art health sciences library serves the research needs of the students, faculty, and staff of the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Allied Health Sciences, the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy, and the Greater Cincinnati community at large. It also serves affiliated institutions, including University of Cincinnati Medical Center / UC Health and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, as well as national and international scholars and researchers.