UC Davis Library Centennial (1908-2008)
From a Single Room to Multiple Buildings
In 1908, the library of the Davis campus began as a single room monitored by the stenographer/bookkeeper of the University Farm Creamery. It housed bulletins and textbooks, and the books sent from the main library at Berkeley. In the years before World War I, the librarian also served as registrar for the Farm and occasionally taught English. In 1924, the Library occupied two rooms on the first floor, west end of the Classroom Building and housed 1,840 titles, mostly bulletins, circulars and reports from the U.S.D.A.
In 2008, the University Library of the Davis campus occupies four buildings — Shields Library, Physical Science and Engineering Library, Carlson Health Sciences Library, and Blaisdell Medical Library — and holds more than 3 million titles. Over the last one hundred years, librarians and library staff have created an academic resource that has served the campus, the larger academic community, and the general public.
Continue to the next page of this exhibit to explore a timeline covering the growth of the library from 1908 to 2008.
UC Davis Centennial
Celebrating the past and planning to build for the next 100 years. Look back at UC Davis’ history that began even before the doors opened in 1908, and see how we have grown from a pioneering “ag” school into a world-class university ranked among the best.