Firestone’s card catalog: Now it’s just a memory

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