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The Boston Children's Hospital Medical Library supports the mission of the hospital in the areas of patient care, education, and research.

  • Location: Karp Commons at 1 Blackfan Circle. First floor of the Karp Building, accessible through the main lobby.
  • Mailing address: 300 Longwood Ave., BCH 3044, Boston, MA 02115
  • Phone: 617-355-7232
  • Online catalog: http://chb.softlinkliberty.net/liberty
  • Manager, Library Services: Chloe Rotman, MLIS
  • Library Committee Chair: S. Jean Emans, MD

Hours

Doors are unlocked 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The library is not staffed on Boston Children's holidays. Open 24/7 to Boston Children's personnel with ID badges.

Who we serve

The library serves the entire hospital staff, including physicians, nurses, researchers, allied health staff, and hospital administration.

Facilities

Computers are available for Boston Children's employees to use. There are also two printers for copying, scanning, and printing. Study and reading spaces are located throughout the library. The collaboration room and the media room have large wall-mounted screens with HDMI and VGA hookups. The media room also has a computer. The collaboration room is bookable by contacting the library.

Library services

To meet the wide range of information needs of physicians, nurses, researchers, fellows, residents, students, and all other staff, the Boston Children's Hospital Medical library offers:

  • Literature searches conducted by librarians and systematic review support
  • Interlibrary loan and document delivery
  • Training on various databases, citation management software, and evidence-based medicine for departments, groups, and individuals
  • Library Lunch Topics, a series that provides an in-depth look at library and information topics
  • Current awareness services for departments or individuals that feature the latest content in relevant professional journals or topic-based searches
  • Scanning service for articles available in print in the library
  • Journal management, assessment, and ordering for the entire hospital
  • Discount book-ordering

Collections

The library has a core collection of medical books. A specialized professional development collection includes books on management, leadership, and business topics, as well as resources on scientific writing and presentations, practice management, and academic careers. The leisure reading collection includes popular fiction and nonfiction titles.

The historical book collection includes books written by Boston Children's staff. The journal collection includes both online and print content, many titles with extensive back files. The collections, while focused on pediatrics, are multi-disciplinary in nature.