I am pleased to welcome new and returning faces to the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HSHSL) for the Fall 2025 semester. I am excited to continue our record of excellence and success into the fall with new programs and projects that will benefit our library users.

One of the ongoing projects I am happy to provide updates on is the HSHSL restroom renovation work. This project continues, with only the Second and Third Floors remaining. The completed renovations have been well received: we have already heard directly from students and employees how happy they are with the new look. We hope to recognize the excellent work of our facilities team with a ribbon cutting event before the end of the year. Look for forthcoming announcements about this event.

You will also see new signage around the Library this fall. From print to digital signs, the HSHSL is hoping to communicate news and events with users in new and innovative ways. As part of the restroom update, the “HSHSL on the Go” newsletter was also reformatted. The new, larger format “HSHSL on the Go” will allow the HSHSL Communications Team to provide more information about events, and even the opportunity for some guest columns in the future. The HSHSL Communications Team is still working to find the best way to attach the new “HSHSL on the Go” holders to the restroom stalls. You may see them fall from time to time as we work to find the best adhesive. The digital screens near the elevators are also now working. You will see directional information on these screens as well as messages about specific events, services, resources, and programs at the HSHSL. New double-sided signs were also deployed around the Library over the summer. We will use these signs to promote HSHSL services, resources, and events, and to provide updates about noise alerts or construction, as needed.

After a successful inaugural year, I am excited to once again welcome students to our HSHSL Student Advisory Board (SAB). I look forward to meeting with the group later this fall and to hearing from them directly over the course of the year. Two big areas we hope the SAB will provide direct feedback on this year include space planning on the HSHSL First Floor and the value of resource access.

I continue to work with the teams at the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), Region 1 and Network Web Service Office (NWSO) to make informed decisions to ensure the continuity of services considering changes at the federal level. We are able to offer funding for projects and continue with engaging training sessions on vital health resources during Year 5 of the cooperative agreement (May 1, 2025 – Apr. 30, 2026). I continue to monitor the situation with NLM funding and look forward to hearing directly from Network members this year at the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MAC/MLA) meeting in Baltimore, where Region 1 will be exhibiting.

After just over a year and a half with the HSHSL, I continue to meet regularly with the staff and faculty librarians. With the support of the HSHSL Social Committee, we hosted a Summer Fest indoor carnival for all HSHSL employees. After updates were provided employees enjoyed teambuilding exercises and some fun and games to send off the summer. It was great to see so many people connecting and enjoying their time. Embracing the carnival theme, HSHSL Leadership team even posed for a group photo with our skeleton friend.

A tradition carried forward from last year was the HSHSL employee night at the Orioles game. This year, we were happy to include Kristina Alayan, Associate Dean for Law and Technology at the Thurgood Marshall Law Library, with our group. Kristina and I continue to look for ways for our two libraries to engage with one another in both professional and social ways. While the O’s didn’t win the game, it was a nice night out and HSHSL employees and their guests enjoyed the game and time catching up. Some of us were even lucky enough to arrive early to receive a free cowboy hat at the gate!

Over the fall and winter, UMB will embark on the strategic planning process, which this year will be heavily informed by resiliency planning. At the recent UMB Leadership retreat, I participated in brainstorming sessions about what the current environments in higher education, healthcare, and federal and state budgets mean for the future of UMB and the HSHSL. While there is a lot that we still must do to prepare for the uncertain future, I feel that UMB and the HSHSL have the potential to embrace this uncertainty and demonstrate resilience and innovation in the times to come. I look forward to meeting with HSHSL employees and library users to better understand how the HSHSL can support UMB’s research, education, and community engagement efforts in new ways. This valuable feedback will inform the HSHSL strategic plan.

Finally, I would like to thank all our readers for their continued support. I have been working closely with UMB to ensure that the HSHSL is represented in the upcoming development campaign. I believe we have the capacity to better engage with university alumni, community members, and others to develop exciting opportunities that will inspire potential donors. With the support of senior program specialist Anna-Marie Epps, I have been meeting regularly with UMB development officers to chart a strategic path forward for the Library’s development and fundraising efforts.

Need help with research, library resources, or data? Stop by the Weise Gallery on the Library’s First Floor for a chance to Meet Your Librarians!

Come learn how your school’s liaison and data librarians can support your success. Whether it’s finding information for papers and projects, navigating the HSHSL website, or exploring data resources, your librarians are here to help you.

Say hello, enjoy a treat, and discover how we can make your academic life easier.

Event Details

• Thursday, Sept. 25
• Noon to 2 p.m.
• HSHSL Weise Gallery

With the fall semester now underway, the HSHSL would like to share some tips to help you get the most out of your time at UMB!

• Need to study with a group, or just want to have a space to shut out distractions? You can reserve certain study rooms throughout the second and third floors. No reservations needed for the rest of the library study spaces!
• Want a fast and easy way to access the full text of articles through the Library? Add the LibKey Nomad extension to your browser. Select University of Maryland, Baltimore as your organization, and then you are good to go!
• Need help? Our Information Services staff are here for you! Visit in person at the desk on the first floor, call 410-706-7995, or use the online chat to get assistance with searching databases, locating items, scanning documents, and more. Go to the Ask Us! page to use the online chat or view answers to frequently asked questions. For more in-depth research help, you can schedule a consultation with a librarian.
• Need to print something? Printers are available on Floors 1 through 5. Instructions are available on our public computing and printing page.
• Forgot your charger and your electronic device is about to die? Our charging station, located on Floor 1 near the restrooms, contains cords compatible with various devices. You can also check out USB-to-lightning or USB-to-USBC charging cables at the Information Services desk.
• The HSHSL strives to be an inclusive and welcoming environment! Our Accessibility Resources page describes our physical space, how to get here, available equipment and software, and more. A Faith and Religious Practice Space is also available on the third floor near the elevators.

The HSHSL is pleased to announce that all UMB schools now have access to Academic Video Online (AVON), the largest academic streaming video collection available to libraries. This new resource is provided through the University of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) consortium of libraries.

About Academic Video Online
AVON is hosted on the Alexander Street platform and includes more than 85,000 streaming titles across a broad range of subjects. The collection features documentaries, interviews, feature films, performances, news programs and newsreels, tutorials, and demonstrations curated for educational use.

Key Features

• Extensive subject coverage, including Nursing, Counseling and Therapy, Health Policy, Rehabilitation Therapy, Science, and more
• On-demand streaming, available any time, on or off campus
• Access for all UMB students, faculty, and staff
• Options to create playlists and embed them in your LMS
• Integrated assessment and teaching tools within videos
• A detailed library guide with tips for using all features

How to Access
You can find Academic Video Online under Databases on the HSHSL website.

On Aug. 5, EBSCO rolled out a redesigned interface for its databases, including CINAHL, PsycInfo, SocINDEX, and others.

The update features a cleaner design, easier navigation, and new tools that make searching more intuitive. Highlights include personalized dashboards and improved options for saving and refining search results.

If you haven’t tried the new interface yet, view the Introduction to the New EBSCOhost Tutorial video from EBSCO.

2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the HSHSL Calendar! To match that milestone, this year’s theme, Botanical Marvels, features some of the most impressive images from Historical Collections Pharmacy Historical Collection. This year’s calendar is stunning, with vibrant colors and showstopping botanicals that will add interest to your wall all year long.

The botanicals featured in the calendar include images from William Curtis’ The Botanical Magazine, William Woodville’s Medical Botany, and Franz Kohler’s Kohler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen. These botanicals, among others, are part of the Pharmacy Historical Collection, which also includes pharmacopoeias, dispensatories, and herbals. The volumes in the collection date from the 17th century.

The calendar was designed by Thom Pinho, lead instructional technology specialist, while the content was written and provided by Tara Wink, Historical Collections librarian and archivist. The calendar will be available for sale starting in October. Please keep an eye on HSHSL Updates, the Library’s blog, for additional information.

September is National Preparedness Month, a time to focus on preparing for emergencies and disasters. The Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) invites you to our Disaster Preparedness Forum, a series designed to cover topics related to preparedness, response, and recovery for libraries and community organizations. Visit the NNLM Disaster Preparedness Forum 2025 page to register for any or all of the sessions.

Forum Schedule and Session Highlights

Sept. 10: Disaster Planning. Realities of Response and Recovery (Panel Discussion)
This panel discussion brings together librarians from a variety of settings—public and academic to share candid stories from the front lines of disaster response and recovery.

Sept. 11: Strengthening Our Foundation: Preparedness, Community, Resilience, and the Future of Libraries
This session distills nearly a decade of research on disaster preparedness and community resilience, sharing lessons from disaster-affected public libraries to help you strengthen your own emergency readiness.

Sept. 12: Informal Weather Education Outreach
This webinar explores best practices in informal weather education outreach and shares successful examples from the Extreme Events Institute (EEI) and International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida.

Sept. 19: Preparing Your Library for Weather Emergencies
This session will equip participants with practical strategies to prepare their library or worksite for environmental disasters.

Sept. 23: Providing a S.H.I.E.L.D. When Disaster Strikes: Librarians and Healthcare Providers Collaborate
Presenters from the library team at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in North Carolina will describe how, post-Hurricane Helene, they collaborated with healthcare providers and stakeholders to create portable disaster kits.

Sept. 25: Communicating Across the Gap: Strategies for Disaster Preparedness and Public Trust
This session introduces practical communication strategies for public-facing professionals involved in disaster preparedness and response.

Dr. William J. Kinnard Jr., PhD, former dean and professor of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, passed away in February 2023. Dr. Kinnard was a great advocate for the Library. Beginning in 2007, he and his wife Dolores donated funds annually to establish and support a leisure reading collection at the HSHSL. Now the Kinnards are continuing their support with a generous gift from the Kinnard Trust to fulfill the pledge to the William and Dolores Kinnard Leisure Reading Endowment. This generous gift has effectively doubled the available funds, making enhancements to the collection possible. Visit the Giving to the HSHSL page to learn more about how your gifts can make an impact at the HSHSL.

The collection currently consists of a variety of popular magazines and a small collection of recent best-selling fiction and nonfiction books. Library faculty and staff are currently exploring options for improving the collection, including increasing the number of books available. If you have suggestions on improving the Kinnard Leisure Reading Collection, please let us know. Final decisions will be made in consultation with the HSHSL Student Advisory Board.

Sept. 2 – Nov. 30, 2025

Regular Semester Hours

Exceptions to Regular Hours

Sept. 15 – Nov. 7, 2025
HSHSL, Weise Gallery, First Floor

Perennial celebrates the breadth and talent of select artists from the Goxxip Girl Collective. Bringing together work that explores rebirth and resilience, Perennial converges on themes of repetition. The natural world cycles through pattern, color, seasonality, or narrative. Similar to perennial plants that return each year, artists return to their practices through repetition, adaptation, and exploration to create.

The Goxxip Girl Collective is a collaborative initiative founded by a group of artists from Maryland. Our vision is to create an inclusive space that celebrates the distinct talents of every member. We’re dedicated to crafting a platform that nurtures creativity, sparks inspiration, and promotes collective progress. Through meaningful programming, greater accessibility, and a supportive community, we strive to bring about positive change within Baltimore.

In addition to their regular duties, HSHSL librarians are highly involved in the profession. A prime example is their involvement in an upcoming regional medical librarianship conference. The 2025 annual meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MAC-MLA) is being held in Baltimore from Oct. 19-21 at the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Hotel. One of the HSHSL’s research and education librarians, Emily Gorman, is co-chairing the Annual Meeting Committee along with a librarian from the Welch Medical Library at Johns Hopkins. A number of other librarians have been involved in planning efforts as well. Thom Pinho, instructional technology specialist, designed a playful logo based on the conference theme, “Spice Up the Library: Thinking Outside the Box.” Amy Yarnell, head of Data & Bioinformation Services, and Shanell Stephens and Mary Ann Williams, both Research and Education librarians, are serving on subcommittees of the Annual Meeting Committee that have assisted with registration and highlighted local food spots and attractions.

In addition to the planning efforts, the HSHSL will be well-represented in the conference’s programming. Our librarians will be presenting papers, posters, and lightning talks, as well as participating in a pre-conference panel session. Faith Steele, executive director for the Region 1 Office of the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM), will be presenting an update on NNLM activities and initiatives. Although the NNLM Region 1 office is based at the HSHSL, it also serves other states within the MAC-MLA region.

We are incredibly proud of all the work our librarians are doing to help make this upcoming conference a success!

Presentations & Posters

Christine Nieman Hislop, MSLIS, data services librarian, presented “Bridging Cross-Regional Data Instruction Needs: Collaborative Approaches to Data Services Education” and the poster “IASSIST at 50: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going” at the IASSIST 2025 conference held in Bristol, England, in June.

Retirement

Patty Hinegardner retired from the HSHSL in April, concluding a distinguished career that began in December 1981 at what was then the Health Sciences Library. She started as a reference librarian and went on to hold a wide range of roles, including coordinator of interlibrary loan borrowing, liaison librarian to the School of Nursing, coordinator of Mediated Search Services, web services librarian, Maryland Health → Go Local manager, and interim associate director of  Computing and Technology Services (CATS). In 2010, she was appointed associate director for Resources.

Throughout her tenure, Patty offered expert guidance to colleagues across the Library and UMB. An innovative thinker and dedicated librarian, she witnessed, and helped shape, decades of transformation in library services, from card catalogs and CD-based databases to the rise of the internet and digital resource access. She was instrumental in launching the UMB Digital Archive in 2011 and consistently championed new technologies and services to meet evolving user needs.

Her legacy is reflected in the systems she helped build, the services she improved, and the professionals she inspired. The impact of her work will continue to be felt across the Library for years to come. The HSHSL is currently engaged in a national search for the next assistant dean for Resource Development and Access. An announcement will be shared once the appointment is finalized.

In January 1941, Clark Gable, the popular Academy Award winning actor best known for his role as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind, underwent tooth extraction surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His surgeon was Dr. B. [Bernard] Lucien Brun, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery Class (BCDS) of 1905. The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery merged with the University of Maryland’s Dental Department in 1924, resulting in today’s School of Dentistry.

Gable and his wife, fellow actor Carole Lombard, had come to Baltimore for medical checkups at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where they occupied adjoining rooms during their stay. Dr. Brun and his colleague, Dr. Louis Hamman, believed Gable’s tooth had an infected root that was contributing to ongoing shoulder pain. Hammon and Brun believed the decayed root sent an infection through Gable’s system, aggravating an old shoulder injury and causing additional pain. The injury was sustained during the filming of San Francisco in 1936 when a prop wall collapsed on Gable.