Billings, John Shaw (1838-1913), an American physician and librarian, was one of the most versatile men of his generation. He became a librarian, bibliographer, administrator, historian, and public health authority. As founder and first director of the Surgeon General’s Library (now the National Library of Medicine), Billings created the world’s foremost medical library. He served as the first director of the New York Public Library from 1896 to 1913.
Billings was born on April 12, 1838, in Switzerland County, Indiana. He died on March 11, 1913.
