1. This is Melville Dewey
He was a
librarian that
lived a long
time ago.
He invented
a new way of
organizing
books in
libraries.

2. Mr. Dewey organized
every nonfiction
subject into 10 general
categories. It’s actually
pretty amazing!
Think you could come
up with 10 broad
categories for
EVERYTHING in the
world?

4. Here are the 10 general
groups for sorting books
in the Dewey Decimal
System:
General Works Philosophy
Religion Social Studies
Language Science
Technology Arts and Leisure
Literature History/Geography

5. 000s-General Works
encyclopedias, almanacs,
world record books,
unexplained topics
031 WOR 001.94 DON

6. 100s-Philosophy
feelings & emotions
152.4 ALI 155.2 KIN

7. 200s-Religion
religion, mythology,
bible stories
292 OSB
292 LOC
291 MAE

8. 300s-Social Studies
holidays, government, celebrations,
military
394.28 HEI
324.6 MUR
358.9 BUR

9. Fairy tales and folk
tales are also placed in
the 300s because they
teach traditions, values,
and beliefs.
398.2 BRE
398.2 MCD
398.2 ALL

10. 400s-Language
grammar & languages
443 KUD
428.2 TER

11. 500s-Science
math, natural things,
weather, animals
595.7 SAC
523.8 SIP
513.2 LED

12. 600s-Technology
man-made things, pets,
farming, vehicles
641.5 VAU
636.8 PER 690 HUD

13. 700s-Arts and
Leisure
how to draw, crafts,
sports, movies, music
796.323 KEL 796.44 REA
736 KAS

14. 800s-Literature
stories, plays, poetry,
jokes, riddles
818 SHO
811 FRA
811 SIL

15. 900s-History/
Geography
historical events, other
countries, U.S. states
909 BAL 932 CHA 990 FRI