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This article is the third in a series in this regular feature. The intention of the series is to look at important global developments in health science libraries. These articles will serve as a road map, describing the key changes in the field and exploring factors driving these changes. The present article by the current president of the Medical Library Association outlines two important developments in the United States. The topics chosen for consideration are national initiatives in the United States impacting health sciences libraries and librarians and enhanced roles for U.S. health sciences librarians in providing support for research. J.M. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To visit leisure reading collections in academic science and health sciences libraries to determine how they function and what role they play in their libraries. Methods The author visited seven libraries with leisure reading collections and carried out a semistructured interview with those responsible either for selection of materials or for the establishment of the collection. Results These collections contained a variety of materials, with some libraries focusing on health-science-related materials and others on providing recreational reading. The size of the collections also varied, from 186 to 9700 books, with corresponding differences in budget size. All collections were housed apart, with the same loan period as the regular collection. No collections contained electronic materials. Although there was little comparable statistical data on usage, at the six libraries at which active selection was occurring, librarians and library staff felt that the collection was well used and felt that it provided library users with benefits such as stress relief and relaxation and exposure to other perspectives. Conclusion Librarians and library staff at the libraries that undertook active selection felt that their leisure reading collection was worthwhile. It would be interesting for future work to focus on the user experience of such collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]