The museum also includes evidence of polio's devastating past, including an iron lung donated by the Cincinnati March of Dimes. The museum is open to the public during regular library hours. Visitors can obtain a free pass at the library security desk. The library's special collections, while not available to the public, are on display periodically. The museum is open free to the public by appointment.
Collections are accessible to the public with restrictions.
The library's museum collection contains about 1,000 medical artifacts, including surgery and amputation cases and saddlebags that doctors used to store their instruments. Named after its first director, Joseph Ioor Waring, M.D., the library primarily chronicles the history of the health sciences in the state and the South, but much of the material is universal. Most of the books in the library date from the 18th and 19th centuries, and there are some materials that can be traced as far back as the 16th century. Guests can also peruse early journals from England, France, and the United States. Another interesting sight is the Waring Library building itself, which was constructed in 1893 as part of the Porter Military Academy and acquired by MUSC in 1966.