NLM® Reading Rooms and Services - Main Reading Room
The National Library of Medicine® Main Reading Room includes an extensive reference collection of over 5,000 items selected by reference librarians. The self-service collection consists of standard reference books, medical reference textbooks, the most recent ten years of major medical journals, abstracts and indexes, and a collection of current audiovisual materials. Visitors have access to several thousand licensed, online journals in the Reading Room.
In addition to the Main Reading Room reference collection, you can request items from the closed stacks through LocatorPlus®:
- Books (1914-present)
- Journals and serials (1871-present)
- Audiovisual materials
A reference librarian in the Main Reading Room can assist you with:
- LocatorPlus, our online catalog
- MedlinePlus®, links to online health information
- PubMed®, the NLM bibliographic database for journal articles
- Electronic databases available at NLM
- Classification of books available in the NLM collection
Before visiting NLM at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, read the NIH Security Procedures.
