The University of Cincinnati reached a milestone this summer 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.

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. His professional experience includes 23 years at Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford University Hospital where he was chief of cardiology and the William G. Irwin Professor for 20 years. When the UC Board of Trustees named the library for Dr. Harrison, 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.”

Students study in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library

The new Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library is designed to meet the research needs of the students, faculty, and staff of the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Allied Health Sciences, and the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy. It also serves health sciences professionals of affiliated institutions, including University Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, as well as national and international scholars and researchers.

The library encompasses 44,872 square feet with a 90-seat computer lab, electronic classroom, and comfortable study spaces. Its collections include over 200,000 print volumes on site, over 600 online databases, 60,000 electronic journals, and 392,000 e-books. It is home to the Center for the History of the Health Professions. The library’s Web site is www.libraries.uc.edu/hsl.