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UCD Library Timeline
| 1908 | Library is established in one room of the Creamery Building. |
| 1913 | Margaret Mayberry becomes Librarian. |
| 1915 | Classroom Building completed. Library occupies two rooms. |
| 1916 | Agnes Elizabeth Brown becomes Librarian. |
| 1922 | Dorothy Deming becomes Librarian. |
| 1924 |
Library holds 1,840 volumes. Nelle U. Branch becomes Librarian. |
| 1925 |
Formal arrangement for the ordering of books on approval is established. Periodicals room is opened. Reserve book system is set up. |
| 1926 | Library cataloging changes from Dewey to Library of Congress call numbers. |
| 1938 | Classroom Building condemned. Library occupies five rooms. Students form human chain to move the collection to temporary quarters in the recreation building behind West Hall. |
| 1940 | New library/administration building is completed (current north wing). |
| 1943 | U.S. Army Signal Corps takes over the campus. |
| 1948 | First commencement ceremonies on the Davis campus held in the Library courtyard (Sunken Garden). |
| 1950 | Veterinary holdings transferred from UC Berkeley to Davis. |
| 1951 |
J. Richard Blanchard becomes Librarian. Microforms are made available. Agricultural Economics Library is established. |
| 1955 | New stack addition built. |
| 1956 | Veterinary Medicine Library is made a branch of the library system. |
| 1957 |
Library course in bibliographic research offered. Food Technology holdings are transferred from UC Berkeley to Davis. |
| 1958 |
C.K. Ogden Library is purchased: Davis' share includes a second folio of Shakespeare. Air conditioning is installed in the main library. |
| 1959 | F. Hal Higgins Library of Agricultural Technology is acquired. |
| 1961 | 200,000th book - Lowie's Selected Papers in Anthropology by DuBois - is acquired. |
| 1964 |
Library's east wing is added. Government Documents Department is established. 1965 Rare books are transferred from Loan Desk to Reference Department. Library Associates formed. |
| 1966 |
400,000th book - Principia Philosophiae by Descartes - is acquired. University Archives is established. Veterinary Medicine Library becomes Health Sciences Library with founding of School of Medicine. Special Collections Department (rare books, archives, and the Higgins collection) is created. Serials Department is formed. Collection Development Department is established. |
| 1967 |
Library's south wing is added. 500,000th book - Illustrations to the Bible by William Blake - is acquired. |
| 1969 | Library becomes a member of the Association of Research Libraries. |
| 1970 |
750,000th book - Compendius Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster - is acquired. Medical Center Library is established at UC Davis Medical Center. |
| 1971 | New Physical Sciences Library built. |
| 1972 |
University Library named for Judge Peter J. Shields. Remote Searching of Medline database is operational in Health Sciences Library. |
| 1973 |
Library begins formal participation in the Mountain Valley Library System. Library's first oral history is completed by Ben Madson. |
| 1974 | 1,000,000th book - Emil Mrak's oral history - is acquired. |
| 1974 | Bernard Kreissman becomes University Librarian. |
| 1975 | Library holds 1.2 million volumes. |
| 1976 |
Automated circulation system is installed. Library holds 1.4 million volumes. |
| 1977 |
University of California Library Plan is presented. New Health Sciences Library is opened. Automated cataloging of new materials begins. |
| 1978 | Library holds 1.5 million volumes. |
| 1979 |
Biological/Agricultural Sciences Reference Department is established. Acquisition of Gary Snyder's papers begins. |
| 1980 | UC Davis becomes a member of the Research Libraries Group. |
| 1981 |
Michael and Margaret B. Harrison Western Research Center becomes part of the University Library. Conservation and Preservation Department created. |
| 1983 | MELVYL, the on-line catalog, is made available for public use. |
| 1984 | Northern Regional Library Facility opens. |
|
William F. McCoy becomes acting University Librarian. Health Sciences Library is named for Loren D. Carlson. |
|
| 1985 | Marilyn J. Sharrow becomes University Librarian. |
| 1986 | 2,000,000th book - L'agriculture et maison rustique by Charles Estienne - is acquired. |
| 1987 | Endowment creates the Margaret B. Harrison Preservation Department. |
| 1988 |
Ground-breaking ceremonies are held for west wing of Peter J. Shields Library. Automated acquisitions system is installed. |
| 1990 | Library's west wing opens. |
| 1999 | Library Instruction Lab built for hands-on teaching of electronic catalog and databases. |
| 2001 | Wireless access to library collection available in Shields Library. |
| 2003 | UC Davis ranks in the top third of the more than 120 academic and research libraries in North America. |