Intertwined public advocacy & volunteer efforts have always helped the evolution of Davis libraries.
In 1872, a free lending library was started by two public-spirited women and located on the upper floor of the Marden House, a “Wild West” two-story hotel at the corner of 3rd and G Streets. Ever since, the community of Davis has loved and supported libraries, books and reading. That support continues in contemporary times through the funding and advocacy of the Friends of the Davis Public Library.
Evolution of Advocacy
The first iteration of a local funding support group was the Davis Bachelor Girls, so called because members had to be single women. By 1910, the Yolo County Davis Branch Library began operation with all of…217 books and 159 patrons. Eventually those Davis Bachelor Girls became the Davis Library Club. Over the early years, the library locations kept changing, and its size and the size of its holdings kept enlarging.
Friends of the Davis Public Library
was established in 1959.
In 1959, the current Friends of the Davis Public Library was established as a 501(c)3 nonprofit to expand the Library (then on G Street) with a leading effort by J. Richard Blanchard (namesake of the current Stephens branch community meeting room).
With the Davis Library Club, the Friends of the Davis Public Library supported an expansion of the first dedicated library building on G Street and the Library’s eventual relocation to the new Veteran’s Memorial complex on 14th Street–then on the very edge of town—and subsequent various expansions. In 2010, the Davis Library Club formally disbanded after 100 years of service. The Friends of the Davis Public Library continues the tradition of community support for our community’s Library service through fundraising and advocacy in a variety of ways, and it plans to do so for many years to come.
…and How the Friends Operates Now
Thousands of books are donated to the Friends of the Davis Public Library every year. The volunteers who do the initial book sorting perform a crucial step in dispersing books to their most effective distribution point. Volunteers operate out of two small Donation Rooms in the Mary L. Stephens Branch of the Yolo County Library. Books are initially assessed by trained sorters for their condition for resale, then sorted into 26 literary categories: genres of fiction, art, history, social and technical sciences, vintage, children’s, general interest, and more. Circulation records from the Davis Library and data from our monthly book sales are incorporated into the vetting process.
Books and materials are then routed to one of several destinations: the Davis Public Library system itself, the Friends’ Monthly Book Sales, Logos Books, the Reading Garden at the Library, or a bulk distributor who services national and international bookstores. Here are ways to Get Books while benefiting the Friends of the Davis Public Library.
The Friends of the Davis Public Library continues as a robust and valued part of the Davis community.