Forbes Library

One of five libraries in the world that uses the Cutter System, a precursor to the Library of Congress Classification System

Ahead of his time, Charles Ammi Cutter favored a card catalog, house deliveries to home-bound patrons, and an inter-library loan system. But he is best remembered for his system for cataloging library books, a system which would later help develop the Library of Congress Classification System. However his system lost out to his rival Melvil Dewey’s numeric system in terms of popularity and is only now used in five libraries in the world. The Forbes Library in Northampton, Massachusetts is doggedly loyal to the Cutter System on the basis that it was created by its first director, however patrons from other libraries often have a great deal of difficulty finding the books they wish to read. Because of this confusion, the Forbes has multiple guides as to how to use the Cutter System and even has a chart for converting common Dewey Decimal numbers to the corresponding Cutter call numbers.