Melvil Dewey was a librarian who invented a DECIMAL ..

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Do you know Dewey?

• An introduction to the
• Dewey Decimal Classification System

John F. Kennedy Elementary School Library
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You can find books at the Kennedy School
Library, the Roosevelt Middle School Library,
the Carnegie-Stout Public Library, and MOST
libraries thanks to the Dewey Decimal
Classification (also know as DDC).It is used
to locate and store books on shelves in the
library.
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Meet Dewey

• Melvil Dewey was a librarian who invented a
  DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM for library
  books.
• This classification system is called the Dewey
  Decimal System!
• Melvil Dewey also founded the American Library
  Association in 1876 and published the first
  Library Journal AND he opened the first library
  school in 1887!
• Libraries would not be the same without him!

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QUICK QUESTIONTIME!

• What is the difference between
• FICTION
• and
• NON-FICTION?

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• FICTION books are made up by the author and are
• NOT TRUE.

NON-FICTION books are about REAL things, people,
places and events and ARE TRUE.
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Now that you know who Dewey is and have reviewed
fiction vs. non-fiction, lets get started on
learning more about this famous classification
system!
Here we go!
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How to find FICTION and NON-FICTION books in the
library

• FICTION books are found in alphabetical order by
  the authors last name.

All the books written by the same author will be
located together in the fiction collection.
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• NON-FICTION books are found according to SUBJECT.

If you wanted to find a book about skateboarding,
you will find ALL books about skateboarding in
the same area. Books written by DIFFERENT
authors about ONE subject. (Non-fiction books
are not shelved by the authors name).
796.22 is the call number for books about
skateboarding
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Call numbers are your friends!

• A call number is a group of numbers and/or
  letters that tell you the location of a book in a
  library.
• Just like you have a street address in your city,
  a book has a shelf address in a library!

If you have been invited to someones house, you
need to know the address to be able to find it.
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A book address is its CALL NUMBER.

• A call number is located on the spine of a book.
  Once you find the call number from the online
  catalog (well learn how to do that later), its
  time to go find your book!

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The Left to Right, Top to Bottom Rule!

• To find a book on the shelf, start at the left on
  the top shelf and move to the right until the
  shelf end.
• Go to the next shelf underneath and do the same!
• When you get to the bottom shelf, move UP to the
  top shelf of the next SECTION and do the same!!

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Think of the library shelves as bookcase
sections.
Left to right and top to bottom.
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FICTION BOOKS

• Fiction books are indicated with an F on the
  first line (for Fiction) and the second line
  indicates the first 3 letters of the authors
  LAST name

This is what the spine label would look like for
a book written by Roald Dahl.
F DAH
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Use the online catalog to locate the shelf area
for a fiction book by searching by TITLE or
AUTHOR. . .

• TITLE SEARCHES should be the exact title, if
  possible. Example Charlie and the
  Chocolate Factory
• AUTHOR SEARCHES are done using the last name
  first.
  Example Dahl, Roald.

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NON-FICTION BOOKS

• A call number for a non-fiction book looks like
  this

For non-fiction books, BOTH the subject call
NUMBER and the first three LETTERS of the
authors name, help to keep the library organized!
This is the call number for a book about
skateboarding, written by Tony Hawk.
796.2 HAW
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Use the online catalog to find the call number of
a subject you are looking for . . .
Once you have the number for the book you need,
you can go find the right shelf.
Look for the painted bricks to guide you!
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The books on each shelf are arranged in number
order on the first line and by the first 3
letters of the authors name on the second line.
They are in number order FIRST (to keep the
subject or topics together),
and alphabetically by the authors last name.
398.2 BRE
398.2 GRI
398.25 BRE
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You will probably notice that when you find a
specific book, other books shelved around it are
usually books about similar subjects.Thats how
the DDC is arrangedby SUBJECT.
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All of the books about insects are near each
other on the shelf, all of the books about
horses are near each other, all of the books
about weatherare near each other
and on and on and on and on!
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The DDC is divided into 10 categories or
subject areas. The major Dewey Decimal divisions
are
000 - Generalities100 - Philosophy
Psychology200 - Religion300 - Social
Science400 - Language500 - Natural Science
Mathematics600 - Technology Applied
Sciences700 - Arts800 - Literature900 -
Geography History
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Youll see all of these numbers on theLEFT side
of the decimal point. But what about the
numbers on the RIGHT side of the decimal point?
796.22
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The numbers on the right side are used to divide
a specific subject into EVEN MORE specific parts
of a subject.

• 700s Arts and Recreation
• 796 Athletic outdoor sports games
• 796.22 Skateboarding
• 796.32 Football
• 796.33 Baseball

A Dewey call number always has three numbers to
the left of the decimal. To the right of the
decimal, there is no limit on number. The more
numbers you add to the right of the decimal, the
more specific the subject is!
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Look at the call number to find the type of book
you are looking for!
When doing a subject search about baseball, you
will find both fiction and non-fiction book
titles

• Baseball Jokes and Riddles by Matt Christopher
• 818 CHR
• The Catchers Mask by Matt Christopher
• F CHR
• Baseball Just For Kids by Jerry Kasoff
• 796.357 KAS
• Baseballs Hall of Fame by Harvey Frommer
• 920 FRO
• Casey Back at Bat by Dan Gutman
• 811 GUT
• Abner and Me A Baseball Card Adventure by Dan
  Gutman
• F GUT

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Dont let this confuse you! ALL books COULD be
classified under the Dewey Decimal System . . .
. . .just because it is IN the nonfiction
section does not mean it is NOT FICTION.
Some examples of books in the DDC that are
fiction Folk and Fairy Tales 398.2 and Poetry
811
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The Dewey Decimal Classification number for
fiction books is 813. Dividing the library into
fiction chapter books, picture books, and
biographies helps to further divide the library
so that books are easier to find!
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What have you learned about the DDC?
What section of the library would YOU find the
following books in the Kennedy School Library?
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000 - Generalities100 - Philosophy
Psychology200 - Religion300 - Social
Science400 - Language500 - Natural Science
Mathematics600 - Technology Applied
Sciences700 - Arts800 - Literature900 -
Geography History
Sign Language for Kids by Lora Heller
419 HEL
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000 - Generalities100 - Philosophy
Psychology200 - Religion300 - Social
Science400 - Language500 - Natural Science
Mathematics600 - Technology Applied
Sciences700 - Arts800 - Literature900 -
Geography History
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
811 SIL
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000 - Generalities100 - Philosophy
Psychology200 - Religion300 - Social
Science400 - Language500 - Natural Science
Mathematics600 - Technology Applied
Sciences700 - Arts800 - Literature900 -
Geography History
Dubuque, Iowa Then Now by John Tigges
977.739 TIG
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Books can really take you places!