Hospital Library Services Program Coordinator
Western New York Library Resources Council
Amherst, NY
“Find the balance to make it work.”
Our latest interview features Grace Di Thomas-Di Virgilio, Hospital Library Services Program Coordinator for the Western New York Library Resources Council in Buffalo, NY. With retirement on the horizon, Grace takes us back to how she got started in librarianship, the changes in discovery services she has witnessed, and the grant that was “the best work-related community outreach that I have done!”
She also shares insight on the Council, including how it facilitates collaboration between libraries, funds innovative member projects and experiments, and its approach to an annual “Unconference”.
BMJ: What are your primary responsibilities as the Hospital Librarian and Coordinator of the Western New York Library Resources Council Hospital Library Services Program (WNLYRC HLSP)?
Grace: My priority is to administer the HLSP, which is annually funded by New York State Aid and by fees paid from agreements with participating hospitals. Librarians make on-site visits to hospitals, provide training, search assistance, interlibrary loan services, and use HLSP grant funds to develop on-site collections. The HLSP provides access to its information portal with select electronic content and a search platform for hospitals that do not have access to proprietary content.
My role also consists of bridging hospital-specific queries to Library resources, budgeting, managing and supporting HLSP librarians, facilitating Medical Library Association (MLA) webinars for our members, fielding questions about the HLSP from colleagues, Empire State Library Network (ESLN) HLSP coordinators from other regions, and others. I also carry the HLSP institutional memory and am retiring in early 2026! I will be documenting processes, procedures, and background information in preparation for retirement.
BMJ: Congratulations on nearly 30 years of service in this role! How has technology around discoverability changed during this time?
Grace: While I was in graduate “Library school,” we still hand-searched bulky print indexes. Later, when I started working in hospital libraries, we used HUBNET (Hospitals and the University at Buffalo Library Resource Network), a pioneer medical library consortium established in 1982, whose online portal provided search capabilities for various biomedical databases and linked access to some full-text electronic content.
Also available was an earlier iteration of what is now PubMed. That system was called MEDLARS and stood for MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System. MEDLARS was a computerized version of the multi-volume print set of Index Medicus – the grandmother of all. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) provided three-day, in-person training sessions that offered instruction in the use of MEDLARS and an understanding of how machine language works to process commands provided through written search strategies. Outside of using HUBNET to run a computerized literature search, you paid to access databases and used a phone modem/coupler to connect to proprietary databases such as Mini-Medline and Medline, which is the current computerized version of Index Medicus in use. The alternative was to search indices by hand! In the late 1990s, NLM rolled out Internet Grateful Med (IGM). It became the new search system/bibliographic database of choice. IGM was free to anyone in the world and could be easily accessed with an Internet connection.
In the mid-to-late 1990s, the HLSP Coordinator wrote an NLM grant to purchase computer workstations, printers, and fax machines for each of the unstaffed hospital libraries in the six-county region of Western New York that we serve (Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, and Orleans). Many of these hospitals were rural and/or underserved. As HLSP librarians, we worked to carry out the purpose of the grant.
Today, the NLM still offers grants, including technology improvement grants, that its regional program locations administer to member organizations. Organizations submit grant applications, which are read, rated, and awarded or rejected.
BMJ: As part of the Empire State Library Network, how does WNYLRC facilitate collaboration between diverse library types (e.g., academic, public, hospital)? What challenges arise in promoting resource sharing across these varied entities?
Grace: Resource sharing is a widespread practice, but the who, what, and how continue to evolve. Interlibrary Loan (ILL) systems such as OCLC and DOCLINE are making essential changes and enhancements, especially those aimed at safeguarding resource-sharing systems from hacking.
ILL systems are in place to share resources. One of the challenges addressed in the ILL process was managing the cost of a delivery system for borrowing and lending ILL books and resources. Empire Library Delivery was established to reduce delivery costs through bundling shipments of circulating library materials.
Used mainly by health sciences libraries, DOCLINE is an excellent example of a well-designed ILL system that has dedicated “buy-in” from lenders/borrowers. As a daily DOCLINE user, I can attest that the response time to fill interlibrary articles has greatly decreased since the days of faxing handwritten ILL forms to lending libraries! DOCLINE librarians and ILL staff have raised the bar on the response time for ILL requests.
The Academic Share Pass program issues a guest/research pass to students to provide on-site access to resources at other libraries.
BMJ: WNYLRC emphasizes experimentation and an “incubator service model” to question existing practices. Can you share examples of recent innovative projects or experiments that have significantly impacted your member libraries?
Grace: Innovation within WNYLRC is committee-driven, and committees are made up of WNYLRC member organization volunteers who apply to join, participate, and serve three-year terms. Some of the WNYLRC committees include Resource-Sharing, Continuing Education (CE), Committee for Health Information Access (CHIA), and High School to College (which developed out of a recognized need to help the local community students prepare for college).
Committees decide upon ideas that they want to explore and test. Committees are provided with an annual budget (about $2,000 -$3,000 or much smaller increments if funds have not been expended), dependent upon the amount requested and specific plans to use the funds for Committee activities. Some committees will readily donate a portion of their funds to support projects pursued by other committees.
The WNYLRC CE Committee hosts an annual conference called the “Unconference,” a low-cost, all-day event routinely held locally at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library’s (BECPL) Central Library in downtown Buffalo. Most of the presentations are by WNYLRC member volunteers, though lead speakers may be recruited. A limited number of scholarships to attend are offered to those in need upon request. Optional, free, after-lunch activity choices include architectural walking tours, special collection tours of the BECPL, and printmaking activities at the nearby Buffalo Book Arts Collaborative.
Here is a complete list of WNYLRC Committees
BMJ: With a purpose centered on building connections among libraries, users, and the broader community, what strategies or programs have been most effective in fostering these connections?
Grace: WNYLRC has a small staff, but they are rock stars in their approach to offer ideas and suggestions for programs and to support and guide committees to succeed! Since the HLSP and our parent organization WNYLRC receive New York State funding, advocacy efforts by our staff and members are vital. Heidi Ziemer, who is retiring imminently, served as WNYLRC Regional Archivist for decades. She has done an amazing job of organizing library advocacy meetings with our legislators, held at our member libraries. Heidi has been significantly and directly involved in Digital Equity efforts throughout New York State. She also played a vital role in facilitating the creation of local digitized collections in tandem with the Northern New York Library Network (specifically Western NY Heritage, which is now NYHeritage.org).
WNYLRC recently held a Library Advocacy meeting at one of the Hospital Libraries that I serve, to inform attending members and legislators of the existence, importance, and need of Hospital Libraries! Two employees addressed how the HLSP supports their respective hospital departments. One of the speakers was the Magnet Hospital Director. Magnet Hospitals are a designation for high-achieving hospitals that indicate an ongoing, formal commitment to self-study, active learning, and improvement. The other speaker was a long-term hospital employee who acts as a Palliative Care nurse champion/mentor. She also leads a Long COVID-19 support group that meets weekly at the Hospital. Both speakers explained to legislators and those in attendance how the HLSP has supported their work and the value of HLSP library support.
BMJ: How does WNYLRC measure its impact on the larger community beyond libraries, such as in education, healthcare, or local cultural initiatives?
Grace: A shining example of WNYLRC synchronicity was a grant that I wrote (hurriedly, as it was the final announcement of leftover grant funds with a short window to complete and submit the application). Heidi Ziemer encouraged me to apply for a grant. Olivia Helfer, my former right-hand woman who helped manage the HLSP as co-coordinator, helped me complete the process. The International Institute of Buffalo was our connection and was key in resettling recent refugees from Afghanistan.
The grant was written to help newly arrived refugees navigate the process of using the healthcare system and to connect them to the online world. Thirty-nine Chromebooks were purchased, along with computer mice, cases, etc., for families who were already taking classes to help them settle into the community. Counselors from the International Institute worked personally with the families to teach them how to use the devices to find relevant health information and to arrange transportation to medical appointments. Due to privacy concerns, we were not permitted to speak directly with the family members. Counselors reported that the program was welcomed and that participants were thankful for the devices and support. That National Network of Libraries of Medicine grant was the best work-related outreach that I have done. I am grateful for the opportunity to have helped!
BMJ: What sparked your interest in a library science career?
Grace: I have a lifelong history of frequenting, volunteering, and working in libraries, starting with our local public library and the bookmobile that made weekly visits to our neighborhood. There were cool, helpful, and younger librarians at the public library who captivated me. I also visited and worked in the library at the public schools I attended in my hometown of New Castle, PA, located an hour north of Pittsburgh. One might think that it would’ve been an obvious choice of a college major for me, but it was not. It took my hilarious/gregarious college roommate to open my eyes to the library interest and connections I already had. She would re-enact highlights from her Library Science classes and inspired me to change my major. Plus, she never called me a copycat! We worked together as library student workers during college and gained the practical experience necessary to perform library-related work.
BMJ: What is the most rewarding aspect of your career?
Grace: Having the opportunity and the privilege to do the work that I enjoy and that comes naturally is the most rewarding part of my career. Making an impact by supporting the work of healthcare providers in taking care of patients. The consistent thanks, recognition, and appreciation from library users who express their gratitude, whether through kind words spoken, written thanks, hallway shout-outs, small tokens of appreciation, etc. One of our attending physicians recently quipped, “Grace has probably saved more lives than I have!” Though a bit of an exaggeration, it made me feel thrilled to be singled out in that way.
BMJ: What is the most challenging aspect of your career?
Grace: The challenge of serving as a solo librarian is like no other. No matter how much off-site support you may have, you must find the balance to make it work and prioritize duties. Timely service to library users is the top priority. Cataloging can wait! Then there is collection development. Noting library user requests and regularly scanning journal content and healthcare news topics informs the collection development process.
BMJ: Tell us something fun about yourself!
Grace: My interests include walking with my darling dog, Banjo (age 7.5, male Bichon-Poodle rescue), my cats, Chim and Baby Kitty, 20th-century boxing history, historical research, photography, music, public art, hiking, and travel. My most exciting news is that I became a grandmother on May 9, 2025! My youngest son, Michelangelo (28), and his partner, Samantha, are the proud parents of identical twin boys, Emilio James and Giovanni Louis. Other immediate family members are my oldest son, Louis (35), who attended graduate school with me (in utero), his partner, Jenna, and my favorite daughter, Giovannina (30), whose nickname is Nina.
Advice for budding librarians:
Stay away from toxic co-workers. Don’t allow anyone to steal your joy. Be prepared. Do your homework. Ask for help when you need it. Step out of your comfort zone. Volunteer to mentor new librarians or take one out to lunch. Enjoy the ride!
Interviewed by Lauren Jones, Head of Marketing, BMJ Americas