Visit us on Facebook Visit us on Linked In Visit us on Twitter Visit us on Instagram View our RSS Feed Nov
10
Posted by Carolyn Martin on November 10th, 2025
Posted in: Guest Post, News from Network Members
Tags: librarian roles, libraries, medical librarian
Though National Medical Librarians Month has passed, we are continuing to celebrate the medical librarians in the NNLM Region 5. We thank Sola Whitehead, Librarian at the Veterans Administration’s Library Network Office, for her post is about how medical librarians are mystery solvers.
As a medical librarian, every day feels a bit like starring in my own mystery novel—with less danger and more databases. My name is Sola Whitehead, and I am a proud medical librarian with the Department of Veterans Affairs. I grew up devouring Nancy Drew books, and I have to admit that in adulthood I have found life to be sadly lacking in secret passageways and hidden compartments. However, it is not lacking in the need to find just the right piece of information to solve a wide variety of puzzles, especially in the health care setting.
Sola at the Molalla River
I started my medical librarian career at the VA hospital in Portland, OR in November 2014, and spent almost 9 years tailing elusive literature for VA clinicians, teaching nurses the sleuthing skills needed for effective evidence-based practice projects, and tracking down everything from lay-language patient resources to helping someone reset their email login. Each day offered new puzzles: patients on quests to link diagnoses to military exposures, clinicians seeking that one crucial study, and technology mysteries to assure that my clinicians could access the purchased resources.
In 2023, I took a new position with the VA’s Library Network Office, which provides national library support to VA clinicians and facility librarians. What this really means is that we administer national contracts for databases and journals, arrange trainings for staff on those tools, and support VA facility librarians to make sure they have the tools they need to be effective. Some might say I’ve left the front lines of clue-hunting at the hospital, but, in truth, I’ve simply traded one kind of casework for another: untangling access issues and devising creative strategies to serve a broader client base.
My love for solving puzzles of all kinds goes from the daily Wordle challenge to helping a librarian obtain a tricky ILL request or figure out why someone’s IP address isn’t being recognized. Each day is a treasure hunt for solutions rather than gold, but it feeds my need to feel like I’m making a difference. Who says you need a flashlight and fingerprint kit to be a detective? Medical librarians wield Boolean operators, MeSH terms, sharp instincts, and a healthy dose of curiosity—and in my book, that toolkit can unlock just about any case.
ABOUT Carolyn Martin