The Indiana Health Science Librarians Association (IHSLA) was founded in 1975 to promote and advance the practice of librarianship within hospitals, medical schools, allied health programs, and other health science contexts. Prior to the formation of IHSLA, Virginia Humnicky (Coordinator for Health Science Libraries at the Indiana University School of Medicine Library), traveled to hospital libraries across the state, helped established new ones, and arranged continuing education opportunities at least annually. In 1975, she appointed a committee to investigate the feasiblity of creating an Indiana Health Sciences Librarians Association. Members of this committee included Virginia Durkin (St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis), Gertrude Merklein (Clark County Memorial Hospital, Jeffersonville), Stan Riecken (Welborn Memorial Baptist Hospital, Evansville) and Norma Watterberg (South Bend Medical Foundation, South Bend). The committee held a meeting on October 3, 1975 to discuss purposes for the organization, including arranging continuing education programs, creating a union list of serials (eventually created by Elaine Skopelja), maintaining a directory of health science librarians, and publishing a regular newsletter. Humnicky's traveling position was paid for by federal funds set to end in June 1976, so she encouraged hospital librarians in Indiana to consider establishing a formal organization with dues. Humnicky used her mailing list of 133 hospital libraries across the state to send out an organizational letter on December 1, 1975. By December 30th, the organization was functional and began receiving dues of $1 from 48 members across the state. Virgina Durkin accepted initial chairmanship and Stan Riecken served as the organization's first treasurer. In an April 23rd, 1976 letter, Durkin encouraged committee members to hold regional meetings with a continuing education focus perhaps in conjunction with local consortiums. On October 7, 1977, the Indiana University School of Medicine Library and the Indiana Health Sciences Librarians Association hosted an annual meeting in Indianapolis featuring presentations on copyright, the new interlibrary loan manual, nursing literature, a computer demonstration, and a panel discussion on "Accountability and document delivery."

The Central Indiana Health Science Libraries Consortium (CIHSLC) was founded in 1973 and works collaboratively with IHSLA to promote information resource sharing and other professional development activities. The Marion County Hospital Librarian Association (MCHLA) was founded in 1973 to promote and support library services at hospitals within Marion County, Indiana. When the MCHLA dissolved, its records were entrusted by Peggy Richwine to the Indiana Health Science Librarians Association.