UC Davis Library Timeline
- 1908
- 1913
- 1915
- 1916
- 1922
- 1924
-
- Library holds 1,840 volumes.
- Nelle U. Branch became Librarian.
- 1925
-
- Formal arrangement for the ordering of books on approval was established.
- Periodicals room was opened.
- Reserve book system was set up.
- 1926
- 1932
-
- Art reproductions lent by the California State Library to decorate the Library walls.
- 1938
-
- Classroom Building condemned. Library occupied five rooms. Students formed human chain to move the collection to temporary quarters in the Recreation Building behind West Hall.
- 1940
-
- New Library/Administration building was completed (current north wing). The new Library had twenty-five employees: three librarians, eight library assistants, and fourteen FTE students.
- 1943
- 1948
- 1950
-
- Veterinary holdings transferred from UC Berkeley to Davis.
- Aerial view of the Library ca 1950.
- 1951
-
- J. Richard Blanchard became University Librarian.
- Microforms were made available.
- Agricultural Economics Library was established.
- Library held 72,105 volumes in June 1951 according to the 1950-1951 Annual Report.
- 1955
-
- New stack addition built.
- 1956
- 1957
-
- Library course in bibliographic research offered.
- Food Technology holdings were transferred from UC Berkeley to Davis.
- 1958
-
- C.K. Ogden Library was purchased: Davis' share included a second folio of Shakespeare's works.
- Air conditioning was installed in the main library.
- Agricultural and Resource Economics Library moves to Voorhies Hall.
- 1959
- 1961
- 1964
-
- Library's east wing was added.
- Government Documents Department was established.
- 1965
-
- Rare books were transferred from Loan Desk to Reference Department.
- Library Associates formed.
- 1966
-
- 400,000th book — Principia Philosophiae by Descartes — was acquired.
- University Archives was established.
- Veterinary Medicine Library became Health Sciences Library with founding of School of Medicine.
- Special Collections Department (rare books, archives, and the Higgins collection) was created.
- Serials Department was formed.
- Collection Development Department was established.
- 1967
- 1968
- 1969
-
- Library became a member of the Association of Research Libraries.
- 1970
- 1971
- 1972
-
- Remote Searching of Medline database was operational in Health Sciences Library.
- 1973
-
- University Library named for Judge Peter J. Shields.
- Library began formal participation in the Mountain Valley Library System.
- Library's first oral history was completed by Ben Madson.
- 1974
- 1975
-
- Library held 1.2 million volumes.
- 1976
-
- Automated circulation system was installed.
- Library held 1.4 million volumes.
- Typewriters commonly used in Shields Library.
- 1977
-
- University of California Library Plan was presented.
- New Health Sciences Library was opened.
- Automated cataloging of new materials began.
- 1978
-
- Library held 1.5 million volumes.
- 1979
-
- Biological/Agricultural Sciences Reference Department was established.
- Acquisition of Gary Snyder's papers began.
- 1980
-
- UC Davis became a member of the Research Libraries Group.
- 1981
-
- Michael and Margaret B. Harrison Western Research Center became part of the University Library.
- Conservation and Preservation Department created.
- 1982
-
- Library received Higher Education Act (Title II-C) grant to catalog the F. Hal Higgins Collection (http://findaid.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt8t1nd615)
- 1983
- 1984
-
- Northern Regional Library Facility opened.
- William F. McCoy became acting University Librarian.
- Health Sciences Library was named for Loren D. Carlson.
- C.C. Kohler collection of British Poetry acquired.
- 1985
- 1986
- 1987
- 1988
-
- Ground-breaking ceremonies are held for west wing of Peter J. Shields Library.
- Automated acquisitions system (Innopac) was installed.
- 1989
- 1990
-
- Library's west wing opened.
- Paul H. DeBach Papers collection was acquired.
- F.H. King manuscript was acquired.
- 1991
-
- Automated public catalog system (DRA) was installed.
- "American Farm" exhibit was acquired. The photographic panels that decorate the walls of Shields Library were an exhibit originally mounted by the California Historical Society.
- Chinese Cookbooks collection was acquired.
- 1994
- 1996
- 1998
-
- The British Women Romantic Poets Project (http://digital.lib.ucdavis.edu/projects/bwrp/) began to identify and make accessible on the Internet the works of women poets. The Kohler Collection served as the main source for texts by women poets writing between 1789 and 1832.
- 1999
-
- Library Instruction Lab built for hands-on teaching of electronic catalog and databases.
- Sacramento Union Archives were acquired.
- 2000
- 2001
- 2002
-
- UC Davis Libraries implement Ex Libris' Aleph, the library's first truly fully integrated library system.
- Library received an LSTA grant to catalog and prepare a finding aid for the Gary Snyder Papers (http://findaid.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf1489n5dm).
- 2003
-
- UC Davis ranked in the top third of the more than 120 academic and research libraries in North America.
- Library held 3 million volumes.
- Colby E. "Babe" Slater Collection was acquired.
- 2005
-
- Michael and Margaret B. Harrison Western History Center, an internationally known Western Americana library was added.
- 2006
- 2007
- 2008
Images (unless otherwise credited) are the property of the Regents of the University of California; no part may be reproduced or used without permission of the Department of Special Collections.