title: From poor farm to medical center: a century of library services to the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center.
abstract: As its centennial approaches, the history and development of library services to the patients and professional staff of the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center is traced from the early days when the library was housed in the cafeteria of the dispensary to its present position of being first point of access to library service for one of the largest teaching hospitals in the country. Its recent affiliation with the Norris Medical Library of the University of Southern California School of Medicine is explained. The change in emphasis from patients' library to health sciences library is illustrated, and the contribution of the library to the Cumulative Index to Nursing Literature is detailed.
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D007992:Libraries, Hospital / Q000266:history*