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That Book!
"Hey, Mrs. Hollinshead. Do you have that book with the dog on the front cover? You know, it's the blue one."
This is a pretty common type of question that I get from students. Sometimes, we can actually locate a book with that kind of information. Usually, though, it leaves us both feeling confused.
There is a much better way to find a book. Let's see how our library is organized...
The little labels on the spines of these books show the Call Numbers. They tell us exactly which shelf the book will be on. You can think of them as the book's address.
The three letters on the bottom line are the first three letters of the author's last name. If Mary Smith wrote a book, the letters SMI would appear on the label.
Above the Author's three letters is the location you will find her book. In our library we have quite a few different locations. It's kind of like a code. If you know the code you will be able to find any book.
Two important words to remember are:
Fiction: These books are stories made up from imagination. They are not true. The call number is made up of letters.
Non-fiction: These are books that are true. They are information books that are very useful when you would like to learn something about a specific topic. The call number is made up of letters and numbers. The numbers refer to the Dewey Decimal System. We'll learn more about that later.
FIC
Fiction: Our fiction section is for all of our Grade 4 to Grade 9 students.
JRFIC
Junior Fiction: This is a great section for kids who are beginning to read chapter books.
Grades 2 - 3.
GN
Graphic Novels: These special fiction books are written like comic books, with great action and illustrations.
.
YAF
Young Adult Fiction: These books are fiction novels for students in Grades 6 - 9.
971.23
Non-Fiction: A number let's us know that it is an information book. It is a Dewey Decimal Number.
E
Easy: These books are picture books for children.
Our E books are great for reading together with someone special.
ELR
363.1
Early Leveled Readers
Non-Fiction: These books are picture books that are full of facts.
ELR
Early Leveled Readers: These books are picture books that are perfect for students that are just beginning to read as well as students who want to keep practicing their reading skills.
Who is
Melville Dewey?
In 1876 Melville Dewey developed a new way to organize books. He used numbers and decimals to put books into order with other books about the same thing. He called it the Dewey Decimal System. Libraries all over the world still use it.
The Dewey Decimal System uses 10 catagories:
100's General works, information
200's Philosphy and psychology
300's Social sciences
400's Language
500's Pure science
600's Technology
700's Arts & recreation
800's Literature
900's History & geography
Each decimal place used makes the books location more specific.
700
796
796.3
796.33
796.332
for Arts & Recreation
Athletic & Outdoor Sports
Ball Games
Inflated Ball, Driven by the Foot
Football
The Dewey Decimal Rap
Story Yeller
Dewey For Kids
Whitney Stapler
Bob the Alien Discovers the Dewey Decimal System
Capstone Publishers
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