The history of the Vanderbilt Medical Library dates back over a century.  Currently, the Annette and Irwin Eskind Family Biomedical Library and Learning Center (EBL) supports the education, research, and patient care mission of Vanderbilt University and the VUMC.  The library occupies the lower level and first floor and serves as the primary information resource for the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The library’s comprehensive biomedical and health sciences collection is comprised of more than 40,000 print volumes, more than 70 online databases, 3,000 online journals, and over 2,000,000 eBooks. Additional print and electronic resources are available to the entire Vanderbilt community through the other campus libraries and special collections that form the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries.

The Eskind Biomedical Library consists of four units: Public Services, Information & Instruction Services, Collection Management, and Document Delivery Services. Reference and Instruction Librarians act as partners with the Vanderbilt community by providing research assistance and support such as literature searching and consultations, and training on various information resources and citation management programs.  Appointments for library services are scheduled through our main number or the Ask Biomedical online form.  Research assistance for current students, staff, and faculty is available in-person, or electronically through Microsoft Teams, or Zoom.  Subject guides are available to assist users with quickly identifying selected databases, books, and journals for specific courses or clinical specialties.  Document Delivery Services can assist with finding and acquiring items not available in the Vanderbilt Library collection.

The library is physically open 90 hours per week, Sunday through Saturday.  The library facility has a seating capacity of 200, 10 study rooms, and a new training/meeting room with flexible configurations that seats up to 36 persons. Technologically, the library has wireless network access throughout the facility, 10 desktop computers, five laptops available for checkout, two large free-standing monitors to use as a secondary display, and two multi-function printers.

The mission of the Annette and Irwin Eskind Family Biomedical Library and Learning Center is to position itself as a collaborator and facilitator in the education, research, and clinical enterprise at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Through the effective appropriation of people, collections and space, the Eskind Biomedical Library shall be perceived as integral to health sciences education, biomedical discovery, and health care outcomes.