The Medical Library at Yale

New Spaces for Medical Education

2018 Renovations

Years in the making, the Medical Library began renovating major parts of the building to accommodate new spaces for teaching and learning in summer 2018.

As Richard Belitsky, MD, former Deputy Dean for Education at the School of Medicine explained in the 2018 announcement about the renovations:

The new education space reflects the national trend of libraries reimagining and repurposing how their space is used. In particular, with the shift to electronic publishing, online journals and digital books, libraries no longer need as much shelving stacks for bound journals. This changed landscape facilitated the opportunity to enhance existing library spaces, and created new possibilities for medical education.

Photographs courtesy of Kelly Perry and Terry Dagradi

Many Hands in the Renovation Process

All Medical Library staff members played a role in the renovation process, which included relocating materials, furniture, and staff; helping patrons navigate around construction spaces; communicating with library patrons and Yale School of Medicine, and much more.  Medical Education and Facilities partnered in many aspects of the change.

Apicella + Bunton, the architects for the renovation project, designed spaces with input from various stakeholders in the YSM community.  Petra Construction Corp, the construction management company, oversaw the many aspects of construction, with Superintendent Terry Deveney managing the daily operations.

Unveiling a Newly Renovated Library

On June 20, 2019, hundreds of guests gathered to celebrate the opening of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library's newly renovated spaces. The a cappella medical student group "The Ultrasounds" kicked off the event with two musical arrangements. Following the performance were speeches by John Gallagher, Director of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, Susan Gibbons, Yale University Librarian, and Richard Belitsky, MD, Deputy Dean for Education.

After the ribbon-cutting, guests were welcomed into the spaces and invited to experience the classrooms, play with new technology, learn about library services, and explore rare items from the historical library collection.

Before:  The Information Room

After:  Room 115, a large, flexible classroom that can hold up to 125 people

Before:  Journal stacks

After:  New classrooms and meeting spaces

Before:  Smaller group study rooms and carrels

After:  Information Commons, with computer workstations, faculty video studio, and more!