Central Scientific Medical Library

located in Moscow. The largest scientific medical library in the system of institutions under the Ministry of Health of the USSR.

The Central Scientific Medical Library is the coordinating and scientific methodological center of the network of Soviet medical libraries, which number approximately 4,500 and have collections of 54 million holdings. The library was opened on May 1, 1919. As of Jan. 1, 1970, the library’s collection included more than 1.5 million items. The library receives a mandatory paid deposit copy of all domestic medical literature and more than 1,400 foreign journals. Through the international book exchange it acquires publications from 76 countries in the world. Since 1944 the library has also been the depository for domestic medical dissertations.

The Central Scientific Medical Library has a general alphabetical catalog, a special subject catalog (including 2.4 million cards), a classified catalog, and others. The library serves scientific and practical medical workers as well as specialists in allied sciences. The Central Scientific Medical Library conducts scientific work in the fields of library management and bibliography and prepares for publication the yearbooks Scientific Medical Literature of the USSR (since 1960).