As librarians, we are quite often asked about the card catalogs our older patrons remember from their youth. While technology has completely changed the way one finds the books they're looking, the card catalog still lives on, just in a different format.
The Card Catalog: Books, Cards, and Literary Treasures pays homage to those 3x5 manila-colored cards that we all love. Authored by the Library of Congress, with a foreword from new Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, this book explains the origins of the card catalog, the information contained on those little cards, and just how important those cards were in the early days of libraries. The chapter entitled "The Rise and Fall of the Card Catalog" discusses the beginning of the demise of the card catalog following the use of punched cards following the 1890 census and how IBM revolutionized the way librarians cataloged books.
While the background information about the card catalog is interesting, perhaps the best part of this book is the rare photos the reader gets to see. Images of book cover art from
Gone With the Wind, The Sound and the Fury, Snowy Day, and many others from the Library of Congress' collection are included. The original card is also included alongside the title. So just what happened to all of those cards? As this book notes, many of the cards have been used as art, jewelry, or collectibles. And those gorgeous wood card catalog drawers? Ask a librarian, chances are they can only dream of ever affording one.
This book, particularly of interest to librarians, would also be of interest to historians, bibliophiles, and avid library users. It's an interesting look at the roots of librarianship and provides a fascinating glimpse at what technology has provided us with.
