A leader in health sciences librarianship from the Chicago area has been named Medical Librarian of the Year.
Kristi Holmes, PhD, associate dean for knowledge management and strategy and director of Northwestern University’s Galter Health Sciences Library and Learning Center, has been named the 2026 Medical Librarian of the Year by the Friends of the National Library of Medicine, a nonprofit devoted to increasing public awareness and use of the National Library of Medicine. The award honors individuals who demonstrate exceptional leadership, innovation, and sustained contributions to the advancement of health sciences librarianship at the local, national, and international levels.
Holmes holds multiple leadership roles across Northwestern, including director of informatics and data science at the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and chief of knowledge management at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. In these roles, she has helped redefine how academic health sciences libraries contribute to research enterprises. Her efforts have influenced how libraries, universities, and federal partners approach open science and translational research.
“Dr. Holmes represents the very best of our profession—bringing together data, people and systems to accelerate discovery and improve health outcomes,” Barbara Redman, PhD, chair of the Friends of the National Library of Medicine, said in a statement.
Holmes recognized her collaborators and colleagues at Northwestern when asked about the award.
“Any honor like this is rooted in community,” Holmes said. “This recognition reflects the truly outstanding Galter Library team, our collaborators, and our incredible partners across Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern University. Together, we are pushing the boundaries of what a library can be: not only a place to store information, but a partner in the creation of new knowledge. I continue to be inspired by our community’s curiosity, generosity, and genuine commitment to collaboration that gives our work its meaning and impact.”
What is a medical librarian?
Medical librarians find, analyze, provide access to, and present critical information that improves patient care and supports health and medical education, research, and publication. They work in many different settings, including academic medical libraries, hospitals, corporate libraries (such as those in pharmaceutical and device manufacturing companies), and insurance companies, and their patrons range from the general public to medical students, to doctors, and nurses and others in health-related fields. Some health sciences librarians have medical or related degrees, but it is certainly not necessary to have such degrees to work in the health information field.
Health sciences librarianship is similar to other library careers in a number of ways, but there are some significant differences. Depending on their job responsibilities, medical librarians search for and organize information like librarians in other settings. They may also teach health professionals how to access and evaluate information or assist the public in finding authoritative health information. They may conduct community outreach programs on topics such as health information literacy, or they may be found designing and managing health information websites, blogs and social media channels, or creating and maintaining digital libraries.
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