fundacão oswaldo cruz, known as fiocruz, is based in manguinhos in the north zone of rio de janeiro, originally the site of the former instituto soroterápico federal (federal serum therapy institute).

founded in the early 1900s by renowned bacteriologist oswaldo cruz, fiocruz is considered the most prominent institution of science and technology in the area of health in latin america.

the library, which is part of a network of 14 fiocruz libraries around the country, specializes in the area of biomedical sciences. the foundation's library houses a collection of 1,000,000 volumes, including 7,300 scientific journals in biomedicine, and 156,000 volumes of monographs.