The University of Florida Health Science Center (HSC) Libraries are active partners in the education, research, training and clinical needs of the HSC colleges, centers and institutes, the University of Florida and the state. The HSC Libraries include two facilities – the main library on the Gainesville campus and the Borland Health Sciences Library on the Jacksonville campus – and are affiliated with the College of Veterinary Medicine Education Center and the Health Science Center Archives.
Borland Library
Borland Library in Jacksonville is an 11,302 square feet facility, and has seating and study space for 196 patrons, including 4 group study rooms, 1 large presentation practice/large group study room, and 24 individual study carrels, and is also equipped with free wireless access. Patrons may use 24 public computers: 12 general stations, 10 in the electronic classroom, one scanning workstation and a large-screen monitor with specialized medical software. Borland’s combined circulation and reference desk is staffed an average of 48 hours per week.
Health Science Center Library, Gainesville
The main HSC Library in Gainesville, founded in 1956 along with the College of Medicine, is a 48,454 square foot technology-enhanced facility whose users may access 160 publicly available computers on all three floors of the Library, including 26 big screen monitors. Free wireless access is available throughout the library, and patrons not affiliated with UF may request temporary access. In addition, there is seating and study space for a total of 872 patrons available on three floors, including 99 seats in 33 study rooms (18 individual and 15 large group study; individual study rooms can be reserved through an advance booking system). The Gainesville Library is open an average of 95 hours per week, and averages over 33,000 visitors per month. 24/7 access to the second floor is available to HSCL users who are UF students currently enrolled in any of the six Health Science Center colleges, UF Health/Shands Residents and Fellows. Reference assistance and search help are provided at the Information Desk.
Our academic community
The HSC Libraries provide services and programs to support the six colleges of the UF Health Science Center (HSC): Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Health Professions, and Veterinary Medicine. The HSC also includes the Clinical and Translational Science Institute; Center for Pharmacodynamics; Diabetes Institute; Emerging Pathogens Institute; Genetics Institute; Institute on Aging; Institute for Child and Health Policy; Institute for Therapeutic Innovation; McKnight Brain Institute; and UF Health Cancer Center. The HSCL also support the broader clinical and research missions of UF Health, including: UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, UF Health Jacksonville, UF Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona; and the Innovation Incubator at the Sid Martin campus in Alachua, as well as a variety of primary and specialty clinics. The primary clientele of the HSCL were responsible for over $393 million in research awards in 2019 (over 50% of the University’s total research awards). The HSCL supports these efforts by providing access to essential research content, as well as facilitating public access compliance and data management, and offering systematic reviews and other services, all in a technology-rich environment.
Services
Library services include reference assistance, course-integrated library instruction, circulation, document delivery, Interlibrary loan, photocopy services, course reserves, lockers and study rooms. Computer access to electronic databases, journals and catalogs is available onsite and remotely to authorized users. Since 1999, the HSC Libraries have operated a Liaison Librarian program that facilitates partnerships with academic faculty, researchers, and clinicians by assigning one or more dedicated librarians to each HSC College or Department.
Statistics
The HSC Libraries’ collection includes reference materials, journals, books, audiovisuals and electronic resources. As of July 2020, the Libraries’ collection totaled 292,319 volumes available for immediate access or housed in a remote storage facility. Additionally, we have 147,613 unique monograph titles (books) in all formats and 16,865 serial titles (journals) in all formats, and our users have access to 101 databases. Total expenditure for the collection in Fiscal Year 19-20 was $2,791,342.
Through the HSC Libraries’ website and via the UF Libraries’ Catalog, we offer access to several thousand electronic databases and journals that include broad and specific subject areas from Anesthesiology to Zoology. In addition to access from any on-campus university computer, with few exceptions the HSC Libraries also provide off-campus access to all electronic resources to UF faculty, staff, students. Off-site users may access electronic resources by installing VPN client software or by logging into the UF Libraries’ EZProxy server.