Perhaps a clear indication of how outdated and unfamiliar library card catalogs have become to many users, despite the fact that they were once nearly synonymous with library research itself, is the fact that this once ubiquitous feature has now become (or is becoming) a chic feature of home décor. I’m not entirely sure where people are finding these old catalogs (here’s at least one for sale on Etsy), but a few creative home decorators or bibliophiles have found new use for these old indexes.
Here are a few examples from Poetic Home.
And apparently it’s not just nostalgic librarians or library history buffs who have them (like Larry Nix, the Library History Buff); card catalog cabinets have also found their way into the pop-cultural realm.
For example, Liz Lemon, Tina Fey’s character on 30 Rock, even has one in her apartment. My wife has pointed it out to me during an episode or two, and it’s clear proof of the neo-nerd coolness of card catalog cabinets. What’s more, the indie darlings and Canadian duo Tegan and Sara even featured old-school card catalogs (along with old books) on their second-to-last album, The Con.
So I guess it’s official: outmoded library furniture is so in right now. And if you needed any more proof, one cool kid, along with having a nice cabinet in her own home, also has a sweet tattoo of one as well.
So I wonder what other dead or dying features of librarianship we might see make a comeback in the near future. Chained books on the coffee table? A microfilm reader in every home?
In any case, I wonder whether this trend has to do with the general sense of nostalgia we feel in the face of change. Libraries are certainly undergoing significant changes, of which the transition from card catalogs to OPACs was just the beginning. It may be no coincidence, then, that there also seems to be a rising interest in the history of the book, along with rare book collecting, as we’re on the cusp of phasing out the form of the book as we’ve hitherto known it.
Maybe this trend also explains the resurgence of library chic?
After all, librarians were officially declared hip a little over two years ago, although one wonders how long this perception will last, given an understandable amount of pushback against this idea, in particular, and the more general war being waged against hipsters right now.
Tags: 30 Rock, book history, card catalogs, chic, decor, Dewey, fashion, furniture, hipster, home furnishings, indie, libraries, library chic, Library of Congress, Liz Lemon, nerd, tattoos, Tina Fey, vintage
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