Nurses Library, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Nursing Library has been a vital resource for nursing education since its establishment in 1959.  This history explores its development up to 1980, focusing on the Nursing Educators, who were responsible for the libraries management.

In the Beginning

In January 1959, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital began its Training School for Nursing.  A small collection of reference books were bought in late 1958 for the Training School.  These books, which included medical and nursing references not typically found in textbooks, were housed in a small room that was also used as a tearoom by Tutor Sisters, later called Nurse Educators. The borrowing system for both students and educators operated on a self-service basis, requiring users to note in a logbook their name, book title, and the date of borrowing.

This small ‘tearoom’ library continued until 1966, when planning began on a purpose-built library space.  The Queen Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing Library officially opened in October 1969.

Library Space

The new library was located on the ground floor in the nurses’ education / school of nursing building, as an addition to the ground floor of the nurse’s home.  The extension also held two classrooms and a clinical education/demonstration room. The position for the library was chosen based on its centrality and to avoid problems of noise.

Clinical Teach Block (front) that was connected to the Nurse’s Home (back), 1974. From Left to Right [Windows]: Nurses Library, Clinical Teaching Room, Clinical Teaching Room, Clinical Demonstration Room. Other rooms in this building were two offices opposite the library. Other classrooms and demonstration rooms were on the ground floor of the old section of the Nurses’ Home – all were included in the School of Nursing.

The layout for The Queen Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing Library included a spacious square room furnished with three large tables, each seating six people and a smaller table for four. The library walls were lined with bookshelves, and two of the walls had windows with curtains above the shelves. The bookshelves were made of a light-coloured wood and were divided into twenty sections. Each section had:

  1. Anatomical models
  2. General medical and nursing
  3. Anatomy and physiology
  4. Anaesthesia / Bacteriology
  5. Dermatology / Orthopaedic
  6. Nursing administration / History of nursing
  7. Hygiene
  8. Materia Medica
  9. Medical
  10. Surgery
  11. Intensive care
  12. Material on the nursing profession
  13. Nursing and Midwifery
  14. Nutrition
  15. 3 display shelves  to illustrate new journals, pamphlets etc.
  16. Ophthalmic / ear, nose and throat
  17. Paediatrics / Gynaecology
  18. Psychology including sociology
  19. Miscellaneous including ethics and odd journals
  20. Unbound journals
Nursing Library, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Ca 1980

The library also had a cabinet containing the anatomical skeleton, plus three mobile trolleys for holding anatomical models.  While the library was air-conditioned, it initially did not have carpeting.  Entry to the library was through a single door, where a small table sat with a large box used for the borrowing and returning of books. 

On one of the larger study table, the Magazine Catalogue was placed.  The catalogue was accompanied by instructions on how to use it, along with general borrowing guidelines, including the process to borrow cassette tapes.  The system was designed for browsing, with books being arranged by subject classifications.

Fiction books were located in the Nurses Home.

Not all books were found solely within the Library. Some were located in the offices of the nurse educators, in classrooms, and within the Tutor Library.

Book Selection

The Principal Nurse Educator was actively engaged in the library’s functions, with all activities falling under her control. Her primary role involved assessing the overall selection of books proposed by the staff and those submitted by book distributors for purchase. Without a dedicated nursing librarian to assist, she based her annual selections on publisher catalogues and reviews from nursing journals. The agents she worked with were primarily Australian, although most of the purchased books were from overseas publishers.

The book selection process was driven by the needs of the time, with an emphasis on quality over quantity. Regarding journal selection, all of the nursing educators met twice a year to review current periodical lists.  Decisions were made collectively and the School adhered to the recommendations provided by the Nurses Board.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Nursing Library’s budget was not allocated specifically for books but was instead included in the general hospital budget. Each year, the Principal Nurse Educator would propose a sum to be spent on books, typically ranging from $500 to $1000 and the Matron would present these before the Hospital Board of Management. Many of the required books had to be ordered from overseas, which often led to delays. Books that cost no more than $50 could be ordered through the Storekeeper. Those items that were either replacement, duplicate copies or expensive would need approval from the Matron.

By 1980, the library had a collection of approximately 2000 book and subscribed to a number of journals and periodicals.  A list of these books were maintained in a folder by the Nurse Educator responsible for Cataloguing.  This was not accessible to the students.

Nursing Library, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Ca 1980

The most popular journals that the School of Nursing subscribed to were:

  • Nursing Outlook
  • American Journal of Nursing
  • Medical Journal of Australia
  • Journal of American Medical Association
  • Current Medical Digest
  • World Health
  • National Hospital
  • UNA Nursing Journal
  • International nursing Review
  • The Australian Nurses Journal
  • Nursing Journal
  • Nursing Mirror
  • Nursing Times

The library also held in manilla folders photocopied case studies and articles on specific treatments of illness.

Tutor Library and Other Resources

In addition to the main Nursing Library, there was a separate tutor Library dedicated to the professional development of nurse educators, focusing on their roles as teachers rather than on course content. These books and reference materials were kept separate from the main library and were stored in the Nurse Educators’ tearoom.  In 1977, The Tutor Library contained approximately 100 books.

While inter-agency loans were not a formalised service until well after 1980, the Nurse Educators were able to access the library at the Sturt College of Advanced Education and reference material held Royal Australian Nursing Federation.  Additionally, when needed, the Nurse Educators would have occasional interaction with the librarian at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital medical library.

Library Usage and Services

The library was accessible to all nursing staff, including midwifery students, and served the various training programs.  These included:

  1. Three-year foundational course that led to State nursing registration. 
  2. One-year midwifery course leading to State midwifery registration
  3. One-year trainee enrolled nurses program. 
  4. The three-month refresher sisters courses for nurses returning to the workforce.
  5. Post basic nursing courses: operating theatre course, Intensive care course, recovery course, renal course, emergency course, advance medical course, advanced surgical course.

The library was open on weekdays, Monday to Friday, during office hours. If access was needed in special circumstances outside of opening hours, students and nurses could get a key from the receptionist at the Nursing School.  Students were introduced to the library during their preliminary training, including how to use the library and its various resources.

The Nurses Library was extensively used and valued by students undertaking hospital training and post graduate studies

Jan Hooper

Borrowing books was a simple process. Users filled out a pink slip, located in a pocket at the back of each book, with their name, the date and their department.  The slip was then placed in the large box designated for borrowing and returning books. Books could be borrowed for 2 weeks, and extensions were not a standard part of the lending process.  There was no system in place for fining students who had overdue books. Additionally, there were no limitations on the number of books that could be borrowed, although popular, reference books and periodicals were not available for loan.

Library Staff

Up until 1980, the responsibilities of running the library were shared among the Nurse Educators on a voluntary basis and were considered part of their daily workload. In 1977, three individuals assumed primary responsibility for organization. The Principal Nurse Educator and another Nurse Educator managed the borrowing box three times daily, dedicating half an hour to this task. Once a month, they allocated an hour to review the collection, identifying overdue or missing books. Additionally, a third Nurse Educator handled cataloguing and book covering.  At this time there were approximately 640 student nurses enrolled in the Nursing School.

There was no official library roster, instead the Nurse Educators were available in the library whenever they had any spare time.

There were many attempts by the Principal Nurse Educator to hire a librarian and/or clerical assistant. One such request was made in the 1973/74 budget estimates to employ a clerk to staff the library.  This was not successful due to the economic conditions of the time.

Media Resource Centre

The Nursing Library had its own cassette player and tapes, which were available for loan through the Nurses Home Receptionist.  These tapes consisted mainly of physician lectures on various disorders, totalling 24 cassettes for loan.  The cassette player was not permitted to leave the building, and only medical tapes, not the player itself, could be borrowed overnight. Additionally, there was a one-hour loan period for tapes on nursing procedures. Slides on various practical procedures could be viewed using a slide projector located in the Practical Room until 9pm, with keys available from the receptionist after 5pm.

I remember each classroom had an overhead projector plus access to shared movie and slide projectors.

Jennifer Barlow, former TQEH Nurse Educator

Also available were five films, but these were in high demand and difficult to borrow.  The Nursing Educators had access to over 30 anatomical charts, diagrams and anatomical models.  These were stored randomly across all the classrooms and none of this equipment was catalogue or stored centrally.

General Operating Theatre Library

This library was separate from the Nursing Library and focused specifically on surgical nursing. Located in in a small corridor as you entered the Theatre Sister’s workroom, the books were housed in glass cabinets. The library started with a limited collection of surgical textbooks donated by surgeons. All the textbooks were for use within the theatre suite and not for loan off-site. When the official theatre course commenced, students and staff were able to loan these books off-site for a limited time. This was done using the same system as the nurse’s library, filling in a pink library card that was filed until the book was returned. Over time, the library evolved and expanded through purchases made by operating theatre nursing executives, who used rebate funds from surgical companies and other donations. However, with advancements in technology, fewer books and journals were purchased, and online content gradually took their place. In the late 2000s the library was disbanded.

Medical Library

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Medical Library was a purpose-built, dedicated space and was the first library to open in a South Australian state hospital.  When the main building opened in 1958, the medical library was located on the second floor, next to the pathological museum and down the corridor from the lecture theatre. Unlike the nursing library, a librarian was appointed in 1961 and in 1964, the first clerical assistant was hired. Additionally, the medical library had its own substantial budget for purchasing books, periodicals, journals, and other reference materials.

Medical Library, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 1959 – photograph taken before the hospital opened

In the early 1980’s, funding was finally given to employ a clerical staff member for the nursing library.  This allowed Nurse Educators to focus on teaching, relieving them from managing the library.  This arrangement continued until 1998, when the Nursing Library became under the oversight of the Medical Library Committee.  Eventually the Nursing Library merged with the Medical Library, creating a single hospital-wide library.

Written by Margot Way, CALHN Health Museum