Unexpected library findings

The other day, I checked out our local public library. I had postponed it for quite some time, well aware of that pile of still unread books on my bed side table. Besides the usual excitement over all the unread and yet untried possibilities (DIY section - here I come!), I found something quite unexcpected. Right before the entrance was a big barrel filled with Nordic Walking poles - all there for the lending customer's joy :)

I didn't end up borrowing the poles, but they inspired me to think of another unexpected library finding - the Lux Humana collection in the Finnish National Library of Health Sciences.
Lux Humana contains high quality fiction and non-fiction within the humanities, and it aims at enhancing arts and humanities in medical education, research and clinical work. Another purpose of the collection is to help medical students, teachers, researchers and general practitioners to develop their communication skills, their ethical thinking and their capacity for empathy in the meeting with the patient. The collection is a result of a joint collaboration between the library and the Department of Public Health at the University of Helsinki.

Päivi Pekkarinen, Collection Services Coordinator at the National Library of Health Sciences, has written an article on this interesting collection and the process around developing it. The article can be found at: Newsletter of the IFLA Section of Health and Biosciences Libraries Volume 5, Number 1 January 2006 (pages 9-12).