Station Archive

A second public library will open in Davis in early 2027, at 2660 Lillard Drive. Maybe the expansion is not surprising when education is the town industry, but the library’s growth diverges from the trajectory of other traditional media centers like printed newspapers, book and record stores. As categories, they're shrinking. How have libraries stayed current?

Today on Davisville we talk with Crista Cannariato and Scott Love, Yolo County library regional managers, about the new south Davis branch, what it will offer, and how libraries have changed over the years. Books are still essential, and community meeting rooms are a major attraction now.

“We’re in a profession where change is not something we’re afraid of or against,” Cannariato says.“Taking the community’s needs and interests at heart allows us to kind of change and develop over time, using that as our guidance.”

We also talk about artificial intelligence. The profession is figuring out what it means for libraries, Love and Cannariato say. They have seen some AI books, Love adds, that were “sloppy and weird.”

This Yolo County illustration depicts the circulation desk in the new Walnut Park Library