The library is a structural division of the Shupyk National Healthcare University of Ukraine. It was founded along with the University in 1918. Initially the library collection consisted of the private collections of the prominent medical scientists, such staff members of the University as full professors H. F. Pysemskyi, H. B. Byhovskyi, O. B. Berenshtein, O. H. Lur'ie, V. H. Vasylenko and others; the collections are still stored in the library and are popular with the readers.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of the library book stock was around 4,000 items, but during Hitler’s occupation of Kyiv it was robbed.
In 1944 the library restarted its work. The publishing stock containing 8,200 items was next to the bibliographer's workplace and the delivery desk in the small room. There were no reading spots. Regardless of underfunding, the librarians managed to get the books and journals from the shops of the regional book culture trade ("Akademknyha", "Lenfond", "Medknyha") and the shops of prepaid editions. Besides, the library got the collected works from the institutes, clinics and hospitals of Moscow, Leningrad, Kuibyshev, Lviv and other cities.
In the mid 50s the arrangements of the library significantly changed i. e. there were compiled alphabetical and classified catalogues, bibliographical files, suggested reading etc. The library stock numbered 34,227 items, including 105 titles of medical periodicals.
Nowadays the library is a kind of spiritual, educational and cultural center of the university.
The total area of the library is 516 m². It has three library stocks, a delivery desk, a reference room with 35 seats, a procurement & logistics department, the unit for documents scientific processing and catalogues arrangement. The book stock is ever-expanding; the new literature is processed, classified and described for card and electronic catalogues. Internet access is at visitors disposal; 14 seats are equipped with computers.
The stock consists of 160,000 volumes, including books, methodological recommendations, dissertations, dissertation abstracts, periodicals (214 titles). The book stock consists of various editions i. e. 25% textbooks, 30% manuals, 17% reference books, 20% monographs, 8% collected works.
Annually, the library is visited by 5,000 specialists, including pre-attestation courses, thematic advanced training and practical study participants, internship doctors, resident physicians, postgraduate students, master students, research workers, the staff members of the University, the doctors of Kyiv. Innovative book fairs as well as anniversary exhibitions are very popular.
