Past presidents I have known.

This paper is an account of the accomplishments of some of the early past presidents of the Medical Library Association known personally to the author in his career as a medical librarian. It demonstrates the qualities that made these librarians leaders of our profession and also indicates their personal attributes that contributed to the advancement of medical librarianship. It is hoped that the historical presentation of some of the giants of our profession will inspire present and future presidents and other medical librarians with an understanding of some of the qualities necessary to the continuing success of our profession. Sir William Osler, who was a great believer in libraries and librarians and himself a past president of MLA, summed up four qualities in his advice to medical students equally applicable to past and present leadership in the library profession--(1) the art of detachment, (2) the virtue of method, (3) the quality of thoroughness, and (4) the grace of humility (Osler, Sir William. Teacher and Student. In his Aequanimitas: with Other Addresses to Medical Students. 3d ed. Philadelphia, Blakiston Company, 1904. p. 27-31). It is thought that our past presidents possessed all of these qualities.