Global Medical Libraries (GML), originally known as Books without Borders, sent its first shipment to Iraq in 2007. In spring 2008, the name was changed to Operation Medical Libraries due to a name conflict with an unrelated organization. In March 2017, the project was re-branded to Global Medical Libraries, a name which better reflects the scope of the project and its continuing mission to improve global healthcare one book at a time.
GML is a California based initiative focused on improving the standard of healthcare in developing countries by providing donated medical educational resources, which contribute to advancing the quality of pre-service education. It was honored with the Daily Points of Light award on February 27, 2009.
GML exists to shrink the educational gap in all areas of the health sciences in developing countries, which globally face the same problem: doctors and nurses go without the latest professional information they need to provide proper health care to their patients.
In response to this urgent demand for life saving knowledge, GML has built a powerful collaboration between publishers, authors, universities, hospitals, and individual healthcare workers to provide formal medical references and continuing education materials for health sciences students and professionals living in the developing world.
There is an on-going need for used medical and nursing textbook donations.
Since the program’s inception, health sciences textbooks have been donated to Afghanistan, Angola, Antiqua, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, Iraq, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco-Western Sahara region, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Republic of Fiji, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey (Turkish Syrian Border), Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Additional developing countries have accessed the free resources available on the Open College Books website. GML thanks John Dziak, PhD, for creating and maintaining the Open College Books website. It is a very valuable educational resource.
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