School Library Musings: Making Order Out of Chaos

Those of us of a certain age learned, way back in elementary school, how to find a book in the library: by using the venerable Dewey Decimal Classification System, or DDC. A flexible organizing system, the DDC has been in use in school and public libraries around the world ever since librarian Melvil Dewey created it more than 150 years ago. Once housed in wooden cabinets with long, narrow, numerically organized drawers filled with cards—hence its moniker, the card catalog—library catalogs are now fully automated and accessible to anyone with internet access.

We learned, way back when, that under the DDC, books are organized on library shelves by subject. Each book gets a number that identifies its subject area. Type into the search bar in the library catalog, and voilà—you get a list of whatever the library has on that subject, remarkably similar to doing a Google search. All you have to do is follow the numbers to find it on the shelf.

Fiction is handled a little bit differently. Melvil’s system initially incorporated fiction, but separating it out became mainstream early on across all libraries, and fiction is now simply shelved alphabetically by author. If we don’t remember the author, we can search the catalog by title, keyword, or other means.

But what about when students, for whatever reason, have trouble finding books they want to read? For the last decade or so, school librarians have been playing around with other ways to organize the fiction section so students can more easily find the books they want.

The bookstore model of shelving fiction by genre appears to be an increasingly popular approach. Want Romance? Go to the section labeled Romance. Prefer Sci-Fi? Same thing. At least with fiction, this system of genrefication allows us to bypass Dewey and the computer catalog altogether.

Another organizing system designed for bookstores—Book Industry Standards & Communications (BISAC)—has captured the attention of some school libraries. Using a numbering system, books with similar market appeal can be grouped together, making it easier to locate books by browsing.

If the goal of the school library is to develop lifelong readers (who come back for more), competent researchers (who find what they need easily), and satisfied users (who get what they want), which method works best?

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We decided to see if we could figure out a definitive answer:

Laurie: OK, imagine I am a middle school student. I like books about animals, I use book covers to choose a new book, and I don’t like to ask the librarian because that’s intimidating, so browsing the genre shelf seems so much easier!

Connie: That’s true in many cases. But consider this: Most cataloging systems now show the book cover along with the title and author, so you could also type in your favorite subject or genre into the catalog and dozens of titles will appear, which you can then compare. Then you can walk straight from the computer to the library shelf and discover that book right where it should be — and you found it on your own, without having to ask for help, because you knew how to use the catalog. How satisfying is that?

Laurie: But what about the browsing benefits? When I looked for my favorite series in the romance section in the genrefied library I go to, I saw other books that I wanted to read as well, so it opened up all kinds of possibilities. I felt very independent and in control!

Connie: Sure, that’s true. But what happens when you visit another library that, unbeknownst to you, has put your favorite series in Adventure instead of Romance, and you don’t read adventure books? You probably wouldn’t look there and would miss your next great read. The decisions the librarian makes about genres can create rather than alleviate confusion in the user.

Once you learn how the DDC works, you can walk into any school or public library in the world and use it to find the kinds of books you’re looking for. Of course, there will be variations: One library may place all its Disney Princess books together under a call number like FIC DIS, while another will place them separately by the author’s last name. Knowing the general layout and plan of the DDC system, our imaginary student traveler can head right to the catalog and discover that the book they seek is checked out already—or shelved somewhere they didn’t expect.

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Laurie: Okay, but I am still liking this genre concept. Consider this: I used to just read nonfiction sports books, but when I saw the fiction section on sports, I casually skimmed through it and found this cool story about a kid who’s a really good swimmer, and I really identified with it! Then this girl, who was also looking at the sports shelf, told me about another cool book that wasn’t there, and now I keep looking for that one to turn up. So all in all, the genre system helped me expand my reading base AND make a new friend!

Connie: Just remember that under the DDC, if you didn’t find that recommended book on the shelf, you could look it up, place a hold on it, and be notified when it comes in! You can also go straight to the alphabetized area where your favorite sports author is and see what else they might have written, or any of the other authors you know and love.

Here’s something else to think about regarding that sports book: Is “sports” its only theme or genre? Or does it also include romance, adventure, a historical setting, or other topics? In a genrefied collection, librarians have to decide where it should go in their unique library—a difficult, time-consuming decision to make for each book. Using Dewey, librarians can enter all these subjects into the catalog record, allowing a student to search for one, find a book, then view other listed genres (or subject, or author read-alikes) to decide if it fits the bill.

Laurie: Hmm, it is true that my favorite author writes in several genres, which means books by one author could be scattered about in multiple areas. If the fiction were shelved alphabetically, they would all have been right next to each other. But how about this? I heard that teachers prefer a genrefied library because they can easily pull fiction to go with their units of study—especially if they teach history.

Connie: Actually, the catalog would provide far more “hits” for a specific search, because any related fiction would include multiple subject headings, whereas the genrefied collection in play might have only one or two of those subject categories. Unfortunately, even many teachers don’t know how to (or choose not to) use the catalog!

Here’s a thought: Librarians can integrate the genre experience with the DDC by offering book talks (building connections between librarian and student), creating rotating displays (zombie books, anyone?) and book lists (frequently available on the catalog) displayed in high-traffic areas (“If you liked Harry Potter, try these books. . . .”). Many librarians place genre stickers on the spines of books so that a quick walk-through reveals a genre that attracts the readers’ attention.

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From a community and parent perspective, we might ask ourselves: What skills do we want our kids to have when they leave elementary school, then middle school, and finally, high school? Any organization of a library will have to be taught. And while a quicker “here’s the romance section, here’s the sports section. . . .” gets students into their search more quickly, teaching students how to use DDC gives them the confidence and power to find any book or other library material they want.

Clearly, this is the goal of genrefication as well; the difference is that DDC crosses all borders — reading levels, locations, libraries, and literacies. As we have said many times, “If a kid can code, they can Dewey.” It’s logical and flexible enough to be manipulated to create the local order and topical focus genrefication fans crave.

Students can learn easily and collaboratively how to use the library, starting in kindergarten, through play, games, and direct instruction. Beginning with an introduction to how the library is organized, an articulated library skills curriculum would then progress to how to use the catalog, how to search other online avenues to find books, how to use their online account to put books on hold, how to create their own reading lists, and more. Looking for specific information in the library catalog is a perfect opportunity for peer-to-peer social interaction as students work side-by-side, finding the books they’d love to read or need for class research projects.

Let’s remember: A school that values teaching these skills will include a strong school library, one staffed by a credentialed school librarian and supported by clerical staff. The teacher librarian is in charge of the largest classroom in the school and, as such, makes the decisions about organization, teaching, and, yes, sharing the love of reading with all students. Administrators, teachers, parents, and community members should take a moment to see if their schools support teaching these crucial skills through the school library.

In the end, building a K–12 library curriculum around understanding how library organization works is important even with a genrefied library. Teaching the DDC, regardless of how the school library is organized, will still be an important lesson so that whatever library young people find themselves in, they will be able to locate both information and great reading.

Our goal is to produce confident readers, learners, and lifelong practitioners of inquiry. At some point, they will want to purchase a car, plan a trip, participate in community events, find meaningful work, and, yes, vote wisely. Let’s give them the skills that allow them to be active and engaged citizens, no matter where they are in this wide world.

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