John Schleicher, associate professor at the McGoogan Library of Medicine and unofficial UNMC campus historian, opens the pages of the book cautiously to display the full-color illustration of a fetus in breech position.
The book Schleicher is displaying was published in 1777 by Madame Angelique du Coudray, a midwife to King Louis XV of France, who hoped to put a scientifically trained midwife in every small village in France.
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Another item in the collection is the original record book of the Omaha Medical Society, circa 1866, featuring the organization’s constitution and other information. |
The meeting, on the library’s eighth floor in Wittson Hall, will feature a reception at 4:45 p.m. and a program from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. In addition to Schleicher, library director Emily McElroy will present library updates and future plans and Robert Wigton, M.D., assistant dean of special projects in the College of Medicine, will discuss the purpose and future of the Friends.
One purpose of the Friends, Schleicher said, is to support the library — and not strictly through monetary donations.
“We’re trying to revitalize our Friends group,” he said. “It’s not necessarily just financial supporters. We’re going to try to do some projects, such as identifying people in campus photographs and identifying a bunch of instruments we have in our collection. There are all kinds of projects we could do with people’s help, it’s not necessarily just financial support.”
Similarly, Schleicher said, the library has artifacts, books and historical documents that could be of interest to members of all of UNMC’s colleges.
“It’s not just the history of ‘medicine,’ but all the professions, and the basic sciences as well,” he said.
Anyone interested in the library is welcome to attend Thursday’s meeting. To attend the reception, please RSVP to Mary DeSive.