The Medical Institution of Yale College opened in 1813, and started a library one year later. In 1865, this collection was transferred to the Yale College Library where it remained for many decades. In 1934, Harvey Cushing approached two of his friends, John F. Fulton and Arnold C. Klebs, with a plan to donate their extensive rare book collections to Yale, in the hopes Yale would build a separate Medical Library. As a result of Cushing's initiative, the present Medical Library was built in 1940. The Medical Library Associates was founded in 1948 to assist the Medical Library in its mission of serving the information needs of Yale students, faculty and staff.

Today, the Medical Library uses new technolgy to offer instant access to biomedical information, while maintaining one of the best collections of history of medicine in the world. You can help the library to continue to offer world-class services to the faculty, staff and students of the Yale School of Medicine by joining the Associates or by making a donation.