I am so glad

1
FINDING NONFICTION IN YOUR LIBRARY
I am so glad Melville Dewey thought of this!
2
Melville Dewey was a librarian who was born in
1851.
Thats probably why you think my name sounds
funny!
3
He invented a way to shelve books in a library so
they would be easy to find!
4
information
Melvil Dewey understood that all information
needs to be organized so we can find, understand,
and use it.
5
MELVIL HAD A GREAT IDEA!
Divide the other nonfiction books into TEN big
subjects. 2
Put biography books in their own section. 1
Shelve books in number order so books of the same
subject stay together. 4
Give each book a number to be a code for its
subject. 3
6
100s
000s
200s
300s
400s
500s
700s
600s
900s
800s
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This is what the numbers mean!
GENERAL WORKS
PHILOSOPHY PSYCHOLOGY
SOCIAL SCIENCE
RELIGION
LANGUAGE

• Ghosts
• Feeling
• Witches
• Optical
• Illusions

• Encyclopedias
• Guiness Books
• Monsters
• UFO
• Internet

• Religions
• Bible Stories
• Myths

• Holidays
• Customs
• Government
• Military
• Folklore.

• Languages
• Sign Language
• Hieroglyphics
• Grammar

000-099
100-199
200-299
300-399
400-499
ART RECREATION
HISTORY GEOGRAPHY
SCIENCE
TECHNOLOGY
LITERATURE

• Math
• Animals
• Rocks
• Weather
• Plants
• Planets
• Dinosaurs

• Sports
• Games
• Drawing
• Music
• Arts

• Pets
• Human Body
• Cars
• Trains
• Cooking
• Farms

• Plays
• Jokes and
• Riddles
• Poetry
• Shakespeare

• Wars
• Countries
• Flags
• Knights
• Mummies
• States

900-999
500-599
800-899
700-799
600-699
8
The numbers were put on the spine of a book so
it would be easy to see. The authors last name
was added too. This is called a CALL NUMBER!

Subject of book
551 HOW
First three letters of the authors last name.
9
Melvils idea is called
Named after Melvil!
Dewey Decimal Classification
Call numbers use a decimal point that looks just
like a period.
We say what kind of book it is!
796.332
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NONFICTION CALL NUMBERS
DECIMAL POINT
796 SPORTS
332 FOOTBALL
796.332 NEL
ARTS RECREATION 700-799
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NONFICTION books are shelved by number order by
the call number.
PIVEN What Athletes Are
Made Of
ITALIA In-line Skating
ITALIA Skiing On The Edge
ITALIA Go-carts
WALKER Hockey In Action
796 PIV
796.2 ITA
796.962 WAL
796.7 ITA
796.93 ITA

1. Look at the first three numbers.
2. If the first three numbers are the same, look to
   the right of the decimal point.
3. If the numbers are exactly the same, look at the
   letters of the authors last name, and use ABC
   order.

CLICK HERE FOR PRACTICE
12
NOW YOU CAN DO THE DEWEY
AND FIND A BOOK TO READ!
CLICK HERE FOR THE DEWEY DECIMAL RAP THIS IS NOT
MELVIL DEWEY!