William Alanson Borden (4 April 1853 – 31 November 1931) was an American librarian and an organizer of city libraries in India who was an innovator of cataloguing systems.
[1] Borden was born in New Bedford to magistrate Allanson who worked in the Third District Court of Bristol (MA) and Mary née Topham.
[2] Borden served as Librarian of the Young Men's Institute Library from 1887-1894 and 1897-1910, where his classification system continues to be utilized.
[2] Borden was also an innovative engineer who designed a steel bookstack and a card catalog drawer that was widely used in the US.
[2] His steel cantilever book stacks were produced and installed by Post & McCord of New York City.