How to Read a Library Card Catalog

Decide if you want to search by author, title or subject. The cards in a card catalog reference other cards. An author card will also have a book title and subject, a title card will have the author and subject, and a subject card will have author and title. This is handy for cross-referencing, so if you want to read a book on beekeeping, you can look that up in the subject cards and find an individual card on each book the library carries on beekeeping.

Learn to find the card you need. If you want to look up a book by Stephen King, find the author cards in your library's card catalog, and look under "K". The cards are organized by last name and are broken down into the individual drawers. Sometimes a letter will take up more than one drawer, so you may find drawers that have "Ka-Ke" and then "Ki-Kr." Stephen King will be in the drawer with "Ki-Kr." You would find a card in a similar manner by title or by subject by finding the drawer with the corresponding letters such as "Be" for beekeeping in the subject cards or "Wr" for "The Writer's Market" ("The" is not considered part of titles).

Learn how to read your card. The author card will have a call number at the top, a line with the author's name with last name first, then lines for the title of the book, its publisher, a brief summary and subject listings. For an author with many books like Stephen King, there will be a card for each of his books in alphabetical order. Title cards are similar but have the title first, then the author in the following line. Subject cards have the subject in all capital letters at the very top of the card and the same information as on an author's card. Many cards on the same subject will be organized by the authors' last names.

Find a fiction book. Once you have your card, write down the title and author's name and the letters at the top left-hand side of the card. These are the call numbers. Every book in a library has a call number. If the book is fiction, it will have an "F" with the first three letters of the author's name below it. Go to the fiction section of your library, and find the book by the author's last name. Juvenile Fiction is similar but has a "J" instead of an "F," and these books are found in the juvenile section of the library. Ask the librarian for help if you have trouble locating your book.

Find your non-fiction book. Once you have found the card for the book you want, write down the numbers and letters at the top of the card and the title and author of the book. The numbers at the top are how the book is cataloged using the Dewey Decimal System, and the letters are the first three letters of the author's last name. Your library will have the numbers at the end of the stacks (the shelves of books), so find the stack your book is located in, then scan the shelves of that stack until you locate the number on the card. More than one book can have the same number, so you will narrow down your search if you have the first three letters of the author's name.

Understand the Dewey Decimal System. This isn't required to use the card catalog, but it can make searching for your book a little easier. The numbers range from 000 to 999; 000-099 are general subjects, 100-199 are psychology and philosophy, 200-299 is religion, 300-399 is social science, 400-499 is language, 500-599 are natural science and math, 600-699 is applied sciences, 700-799 is art, 800-899 are literature and plays, and 900-999 are geography and history.