The Army Medical Library began in 1836 when Surgeon General of the Army Joseph Lovell first established a collection of medical literature for official use. John Shaw Billings, the first Librarian, greatly increased collections and initiated the Index Catalogue. By 1936 the library held more than a million items and was considered one of the premier medical libraries in the world.
The Army Medical Library's Committee of Consultants for the Study of the Indexes to Medical Literature first met in September 1948. Its mandate was to study the Library's four indices - Index Catalogue, Index Medicus, Quarterly Cumulative Index Medicus, and Current List of Medical Literature - and determine whether they should be modified or eliminated in light of the demands of modern medical indexing. Its last meeting was in May 1952.
The U.S. Army Surgeon General's library was established in 1836. It was renamed The Army Medical Library in 1922. In 1956 it was transferred to U.S. Public Health Service and renamed National Library of Medicine.