READ Honorees
In 2004, Dahlgren Memorial Library launched a READ Poster Campaign with the theme of cura personalis during National Medical Librarians Month. The purpose of the READ Poster Campaign was to promote the newly founded Humanities Collection. The Humanities Collection was dedicated in honor of the late Dr. John M. Eisenberg, a prominent Georgetown University Medical Center physician who, as a lifelong bibliophile, believed in reading widely both within and outside of one’s field. In 2015, the Humanities Collection was renamed the Eisenberg Collection. Dr. Eisenberg served as the Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief at Georgetown from 1992-1997. Prior to joining Georgetown University, he held various professorships at the University of Pennsylvania, including the post of Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Eisenberg’s focus on healthcare research, quality, and patient safety led him to serve as the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) from 1997-2002.
The Eisenberg Collection features literature, poetry, philosophy, history, biography, and other works, designed to help current and future physicians and scientists grow professionally and personally through developing their intellectual interests. Books selected by members of the Georgetown University Medical Center community for their individual READ Posters are added to the Eisenberg Collection.
By offering this popular humanities and leisure reading collection, the Library proudly honors Dr. Eisenberg and his vision. The Library continues to promote the Eisenberg Collection by annually naming members of the Georgetown University Medical Center community as READ Honorees whom they believe exemplify the concept of cura personalis.