As the first director of the New York Public Library, John Shaw Billings (1838-1913) was the early guiding force behind that institution's reputation as one of the premier information providers in the world. A physician by training, Billings was instrumental in the establishment of the first comprehensive national medical library and provided much of the ideas and innovations that made the medical school of Johns Hopkins University the foremost learning center of its kind. Billings, noted Frank B. Rogers in a memorial essay that appeared in John Shaw Billings Centennial, did "more to advance American medical education than any other individual of his generation."

Trained as Doctor in Cincinnati

Billings was born on December 12, 1838, in southeastern Indiana in Cotton Township. His father's family had emigrated from England in the century before, and settled in Syracuse, New York. His mother, Abby Shaw Billings, was descended from Mayflower settlers. As...