History of UCPS

From Small Shop to UC-Wide Facility

UC Printing Services started in 1874 in a small shop in one of the first buildings on campus, Literary Hall. The service was created to provide teaching materials, internal administrative documents and public outreach literature for the University.

As UC Berkeley grew, so did UC Printing. Over the years, printing services expanded greatly in volume and prestige. The department was funded often and did many projects for the Federal Government. In 1939, as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), UC Printing constructed a new publishing facility at Oxford and Center Streets in Berkeley. The service eventually left that location and is now housed in an ultra-modern facility with state-of-the-art equipment at 1100 67th St. in Emeryville.

UC Printing has produced hundreds of thousands of important documents over the years, including the United Nations Charter in 1945. The Charter was printed and prepared in five languages for the signatures of delegates gathered in San Francisco for the founding of the United Nations.

Operating as a self-supporting department of the University of California, UCPS has grown to become one of the largest University in-plant printing shops in the United States, processing more than 250,000 mail pieces per week. Today, UCPS has grown into a technologically advanced, award-winning, full-service print shop with state-of-the-art facilities.