Hello party people ;) I am wondering about how you organize your libraries? Do you use the dewey decimal system only or some other way? I am wondering because if I sort, for example, the different five love languages books, there would be some in parenting and some in marriage and some in Christian living, or I could just put them all together in a five love languages section. How do you sort non fiction? By topic, or popular books get sorted in their own popular author section...? Wanting to restructure what is now as it seems to not make much sense to me. Muchos gracias ~ Amanda
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Well said, Wynanda.
Since taking on the role of librarian as of 2014, I've been sifting through the books. I've found many inconsistencies from librarians changing hands, and also I believe (for some) by not giving detailed attention to book placement. In result, I found a number of doubly placed books and even triple placed books of the same title/author placed in our library collection. Not only were these books doubled or tripled, all these books that contained the same exact title/author/package were found sprinkled in different topic areas.
So now I continue to figure out how best to place books within context of topical sections like Wynanda demonstrated, Which Dewey Decimal numbers should our library use and how should we use the designated Dewey Decimal numbers?
Example: Psychology in the Dewey Decimal system, as used in a public library, most likely would not include a Christian aspect/basis for relational books, but I am designating this area for Psychology from a Christian/Biblical aspect. So within this area, there are books about interpersonal relationships, even within the church.
The Dewey Decimal System in this Psychological area includes marital relationship, but I'm designating the 100's Psychology section for all relationships except familial. I do include personal growth/knowing yourself books. Books like understanding how our placement in a family effects who we are or understanding how being introvert or extrovert.
When I put up better signage, I will have a section in the 300's that includes the following: Family (Marriage, Parental, Siblings . . .) and Singleness (Divorce, Widowed . . .).
As you can see, I'm still working on the wording, but I'm so excited to rearrange books to hopefully make for easier browsing. Each section includes books labeled according to the Dewey Decimal System, and will have a particular topic (Relationships - Friends & Acquaintances, Relationships - Family, Psychological and Emotional Well-being . . . ) assigned.
My continual thought these days: How can I best use the Dewey Decimal System to benefit our small LCF Library that will make best sense for future caretakers of this wonderful media collection?
Amanda ---
I take the viewpoint that it's a wonderful way to get a particular message out by sprinkling the library sections with wonderful series collection such as the Five Love Languages. Other examples may be Dave Ramsey's books/DVDs/Studies, Bondage Breaker --- including updated versions, and more.
We use the Decimal System for non-fiction, but have certain numbers that we choose for particular areas such as marriage, singleness, and so on. Depending on for whom the particular book addresses, we put the Five Love Languages with that group (parents - parenting, spouses - marriage . . .). This way the particular type person will find that book according to their interest/role.
In a sense, we use the decimal system and adapt to our needs. So for instance, we use a particular number that's for marriage and so all marriage related books will go there. I'm still working on signage, but each subject area will have a shelf label with the topic and the corresponding decimal number. We currently have the Five Love Language book that addresses marriage placed with all the marriage books.
Does this make sense? Does this help?