an earlier version of this article was originally 
 published by the journal of the canadian health 
 libraries association/ journal de l'association des 
 bibliothques de la sant du canada ( " jchla/ 
 jabsc " ) . a library represents the mind of its collector , his 
 fancies and foibles , his strength and weakness , 
 his prejudices and preferences . particularly is 
 this the case if to the character of a collector he 
 adds - or tries to add- the qualities of a student 
 who wishes to know the books and the lives of 
 the men who wrote them . the friendships of his 
 life , the phases of his growth , the vagaries of 
 his mind , all are represented .
sir william osler bequeathed his library to mcgill university in 1919 ; 
 a decade later , the 8000 volumes arrived in montreal . then , as now , 
 the collection consisted of primary works ( " rare books " ) , secondary 
 commentaries , and current works on the history of the health sciences . 
 in the last 80 years 
 the collection has grown considerably and the library 
 now adds about 1,000 books to its collection yearly ( mainly current 
 publications ) and receives 200 current serial titles . the osler library is 
 one of the largest " history of medicine " libraries in the world and the 
 largest of its kind in canada . 
 the library tries to collect current material 
 on the history of the health sciences from all over the world and attempts 
 to collect all medical history published in canada . 
 the osler offers its 
 resources to researchers and students through its website , publications 
 and research travel grant programme.the librarian of today , and it will be true still 
 more of the librarians of tomorrow , are not fiery 
 dragons interposed between the people and the 
 books . 
 they are useful public servants , who 
 manage libraries in the interest of the public ... 
 many think still that a great reader , or a writer of 
 books , will make an excellent librarian . 
 this is 
 pure fallacy.- william osler , ( 1 )