36 OCTOBER 2025 By Michael P. Murphy You can’t miss the painting in the entryway: a portrait of a young girl holding a kitten close to her face. She is smiling, as if to greet all who visit this special place, the pediatric health library named after her. Her name is Emily Anderson, and her story is the story of the Emily Center, found within the healing walls of Phoenix Children’s Hospital – Thomas Campus. It can be said that the Emily Center was born out of frustration. Doctors diagnosed Emily with a rare, aggressive form of adult leukemia before she was three years old. In those days before the Internet, it was maddening to the Andersons that there was so little access to information – outside of talking with their clinician – that would provide any understanding of their daughter’s illness. It was also frustrating to Kathleen Werner, Emily’s nurse at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She had a vision for a comprehensive learning center in the hospital. She presented the case to the Parent Advisory Board and Pilot Parents’ Partnerships, who encouraged Kathleen to move forward to make it possible. After Emily’s passing, her parents partnered with Kathleen to help raise the necessary funds. The Emily Center opened in 1990 in the original Phoenix Children’s Hospital location within Good Samaritan Hospital. Kathleen served as director for the first five years. In 2002, the Emily Center moved to the east building of the Thomas Campus and now serves as a modern hub of accessible pediatric health information, all of it vetted and evidence-based. In-house registered nurses curate and edit health information and patient information handouts. Ten staff members and a dozen volunteers work there, and every front desk staff member is bilingual and a notary public. There are laptop computers for the public to use for research, a mindfulness room with massage chairs, and soothing, relaxing music for weary family members. It’s a place where everybody feels welcome when they walk in the door, and there are no charges for services provided. “We’re open to the public,” Library Services Supervisor Millie Donaldson said. “You do not have to be a patient to receive our services for information. The community can reach out to us through a phone call or e-mail.” Health Information Nurse Joy MacLeod is aware of the need for support and information when families come to the Emily Center. “If a family member comes in and wants information on a diagnosis, medication, procedures, or caring for their child, we will sit in the consultation room and talk about exactly what their questions and concerns are and what they need,” she said. “We walk them through the process and provide the resources to help them.” Understandably, not everyone is aware that some hospitals have in-house libraries. The Emily Center, an original affiliate of Phoenix Public Library, provides shelves of children’s books in English and Spanish, designed to help them better understand certain medical conditions. Every day of the week, a volunteer pushes a cart throughout the hospital to offer fun, age-appropriate, free books to patients and families. Funding for the Emily Center comes from private donations and the fundraising efforts of the Phoenix Children’s Foundation. Emily lost her battle with leukemia in 1986, shortly before her seventh birthday. But because of the tenacity of her caring family and a compassionate nurse, a legacy of accessible medical knowledge was born. The Emily Center is that and much more, a place where Emily is always smiling. phoenixchildrens.org The Emily Center: A different kind of library (left) A portrait of Emily Anderson. (middle) Emily Center employees Brianna, Nicki, Angie, Millie and Catherine. (right) The library offers a wealth of materials. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MICHAEL MURPHY & KC CRABTREE

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