Norwell Public Library has an old card catalog cabinet that is used to hold seed packets for a seed-lending program. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/Globe Staff ...

HAYWARD — City librarians have found a new purpose for those old card catalog cabinets, a throwback to the days before computers began helping patrons locate books — which they are checking ...

To come up with their own design, Clifford borrowed a card catalog cabinet from the Pomona Library a couple of years back.

Card catalogs first debuted in the 1870s, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, and became the primary form for organizing information in U.S. libraries. Maintaining card catalogs was tedious.

Today, people use the antique wooden cabinets to store their knick-knacks. But these card catalogs once held the keys to a world of information. A new Library of Congress book explores their history.

Card catalogs were once constant fixtures in libraries, but just recently on a trip to a craft store with my daughter, I found that card catalog cabinets are now rustic décor pieces.

Hence more than one person could use the catalog at any time. This was important, as most libraries had only a single set of cards available to the public. This particular cabinet was used for the ...

Area libraries, including those in Homewood, Park Forest and Blue Island, are repurposing old card catalog cabinets to house flower and vegetable seeds, encouraging people to donate their leftovers… ...

Library Modernizes Staff ditch the traditional card catalog cabinets and cards for online searching for resources [ This article was originally published in the UTSA newsletter The Roadrunner on ...