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For more than 100 years, Lane Medical Library has been dedicated to supporting patient care, medical education, and medical research. The library was established in 1906 by the directors of Cooper Medical College, with an endowment from Dr. Levi Cooper Lane. In 1908, Cooper Medical College became the Medical Department of Stanford University.

Originally located in San Francisco, California, Lane Library and Stanford's School of Medicine moved in 1959 to their current home on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto. Along with Stanford Hospital & Clinics, and Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, they comprise the Stanford University Medical Center.

• Highlights from Lane Library’s History

  • 1858
    Dr. Elias Samuel Cooper establishes the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific in San Francisco. Known as Cooper Medical College, it was the first medical school on the Pacific Coast. The library at Cooper Medical College, which would eventually become Lane Medical Library, was staffed and had acquired over 10,000 volumes by 1878.
  • 1902
    Dr. Lane and his wife leave one third of their estate to Cooper Medical College for the Library. The remainder is left to the president of the College. Dr. Lane's library of about 2,000 books, many of them classics, is left to the College.
  • 1906
    Lane Medical Library is officially established.
  • 1907
    Arrival of the books purchased from New York Academy of Medicine brings the Lane holdings to about 35,000, making it the largest medical library west of Chicago.
  • 1912
    The first Lane Medical Library building (in San Francisco) is officially dedicated. The dedication address is published in the December 6, 1912 issue of Science magazine.
  • 1945
    Stanford School of Medicine alumni and members of the community help Lane by donating books during the war.
  • 1971
    Lane Medical Library offers online searching of MEDLINE.
  • 1987
    Lane's catalog goes online and becomes LOIS (Lane's Online Information System).
  • 1989
    Dean David Korn establishes the Lane Medical Archives.
  • 1993
    Lane offers access to its first electronic journal, the Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials (OJCCT).
  • 1998
    John L. Wilson, M.D. completes a comprehensive history of the school: Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools: An Historical Perspective (check out the e-book)
  • 2006
    Lane Medical Library celebrates its 100th birthday

• People: Deans, Early Women Graduates, Alumni

  • Deans of Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools
  • Stanford Medical Alumni (1891-1955)

The Lane Medical Library Archives and Special Collections houses materials relating to the history of the Stanford University Medical Center and its predecessor institutions; as well as dealing with the history of medicine generally. These materials are non-circulating, and may only be viewed in the Archives Reading Room.

• Personal papers and manuscripts
• Rare medical books and journals

The Archives are open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., by appointment only.

To request an appointment to visit the Archives, please contact:
Drew Bourn, Historical Curator

Phone: 650-725-8045