The Scientific Library employees at NCI’s Frederick Cancer Research Center repeated history in 1972, perhaps without realizing it. Much like the librarians who opened the Camp Detrick Technical Library in 1943, they were among the first staff to begin working at the epicenter of what would soon become an important scientific facility. And like in the early days of Camp Detrick, the Scientific Library rapidly became a hub for information and technology during the FCRC’s first years.

While World War II raged, engineers and tradespeople built up a little airport that’d sat humbly on the outskirts of Frederick since 1929, transforming it into a microbiological research facility. The site, renamed “Camp Detrick,” was to be the home of the new U.S. Army Biowarfare Research Laboratories. This is where the story of the NCI Frederick Scientific Library truly begins.

The Scientific Library is moving into a new dimension: a “library without walls.” Capitalizing on its identity beyond its physical location, the library will adopt a greater focus on connecting people to information, ideas, and each other and will ultimately shed its brick-and-mortar space in Building 549. The Scientific Library as an online library will focus on being a transformational hub of resources, not just a transactional place to check out books.

For many people, libraries conjure up images of hushed voices, using the Dewey Decimal System to search the card catalog, and perusing the shelves for a favorite author. But as is true in so many aspects of our daily lives, technology is changing the way we find and use information. That’s why Deanna West, who assumed the role of director of the NCI Frederick Scientific Library in September, is rethinking how the library serves its patrons.

NCI Frederick has a new reigning trivia champion. Alison Murphy, a third-year student at University of Maryland, took first place in the 15th Annual Scientific Library Student Jeopardy! Tournament.