Celebrate Nonfiction

Exploring the Joy of Nonfiction Reading and Writing

Disturbing Dewey: It’s a Good Thing

If you’re a book nerd and you’ve been reading my recent Wednesday posts, you might think it’s interesting that when patrons were having trouble finding novels amongst all the other literature, early twentieth-century librarians pulled them (and short story collections) out of their “proper” Dewey Decimal order and created a separate fiction section.


Yet,
when librarians later began using the term “informational books” to describe
everything in the nonfiction section except folktales, poetry, drama, etc.,
they didn’t create separate sections for the outliers. Why not have separate
sections for poetry or drama or folktales?

Maybe
librarians thought that would be too complicated. Or maybe, by then, the Dewey
system was so established that librarians were reluctant to mess with
it.

Well,
they’re messing with it now. And the results are terrific.

 

In recent years, some children’s librarians have taken a close look at their nonfiction collections and done some rearranging to better serve the needs of their young, curious patrons.

For
example, Judi Paradis, the fantastic teacher-librarian at Plympton Elementary School
in Waltham, MA, has rearranged her collection so that students interested in
mummies, U.S. states, and outer space can find the full range of books on each
of these topics more easily.

Judi
noticed that most books about outer space have Dewey Decimal numbers between
520 and 525. But rockets are at 629. Since children interested in planets
might also want to know more about rockets, Judi now shelves books about
rockets at 520.


Most
books about mummies have Dewey Decimal numbers in the 360s, but Egyptian
mummies are in the 930s. Judi decided to shelve all the mummy books in the
930s and doesn’t worry about the South American mummies getting upset.


I
think these are great changes and would encourage more children’s librarians to
take a close look at their collections and consider moving books to places
where curious young mind can find them most easily.


top 25 nonfiction blog award
Return to Blog Archive

Most Popular Posts

Topics
top 25 nonfiction blog award
Return to Blog Archive

Most Popular Posts

Topics

© 2001–[current-year] Melissa Stewart. All rights reserved. All materials on this site may be copied for classroom or library use but may not be reprinted or resold for commercial purposes. This website is COPPA compliant. If you are a child under age 13 and wish to contact Melissa Stewart, please use the email address of a teacher, librarian, or parent with that adult’s permission. Webhost Privacy Policy.