Drawer fronts from the card catalog will become part of an exhibit in the library lobby. The cards will be recycled.
Princeton University Archives

Drawer fronts from the card catalog will become part of an exhibit in the library lobby. The card will be recycled.
Drawer fronts from the card catalog will become part of an exhibit in the library lobby. The cards will be recycled.
Princeton University Archives

Students were not the only campus fixtures to disappear during the summer months. Firestone Library’s extensive card catalog was dismantled in July as part of the library’s 10-year renovation project.

By the numbers: 

5,106 — Number of card-catalog drawers 

6 million — Firestone’s “working figure” for the total number of cards (each title typically had four cards)

473.3 miles — Approximate distance 6 million cards would measure if they were laid end to end

1948 — Year Firestone Library opened and the card catalog was installed 

1984 — Year Firestone inaugurated its first online catalog