A rich history
UC Berkeley Library History Room
The University Library houses a Library History Room, located on the first floor of Doe Library, adjacent to the Bernice Layne Brown Gallery. Large wall murals and framed posters offer visitors a visual and descriptive history of the UC Berkeley Library system. The growth and development of the University Library and its vital place in the teaching and research mission of the University of California, Berkeley are evident in this historical presentation.
Building Bancroft: The Evolution of a Library
Building Bancroft: The Evolution of a Library presents the documentary history of The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. The exhibit traces the development of The Bancroft Library, from its beginnings as the personal collection of businessman and historian Hubert Howe Bancroft to its current role as one of the premier archival and special collections repositories in the nation. Documents, photographs, illustrations, and other materials offer an introduction to more than one hundred and fifty years in the life of The Bancroft Library.
University Librarians
October 2015 to present: Jeffrey MacKie-Mason
2000-2015: Thomas C. Leonard
1998-2000: Gerald R. Lowell
1998: Penny Abel (Interim)
1994-1998: Peter Lyman
1992-1994: Dorothy Gregor
1978-1992: Joseph A. Rosenthal
1972-1978: Richard M. Dougherty
1971-1972: Eldred Smith (Interim)
1968-1972: James E. Skipper
1945-1968: Donald Coney
1919-1945: Harold L. Leupp
1875-1919: Joseph C. Rowell (First full-time University Librarian)
1874-1875: Professor Edward Rowland Sill, English; instructor Carlos F. Gompertz, Spanish
1869-1874: Professor William Swinton, English