1. Dueling Systems: Why the
Bookstore Model of Library
Classification Beat Out the
Dewey Decimal System in an
Elementary School Library
Holli Buchter, St. Vrain Valley School District
American Library Assn Conference, June 23, 2012
2. Background
In 2009, Anythink Public Libraries changed their
organization of resources from the Dewey Decimal
System to a Word Based Classification system based on
BISAC(Book Industry Standards and Communication)
In 2010, representatives St. Vrain Valley School District
toured the Wrights Farm branch. Based on this visit,
the decision was made to pilot this type at our newest
elementary school, Red Hawk that would open in the fall
of 2011.
4. Facts about Red Hawk
Only dual curriculum school in St. Vrain-Standard SVVSD
curriculum and Core Knowledge
Environmentally friendly school
Award winning “movement” physical exercise program
Innovative library empowers students
5. Red Hawk’s Classification System
Adapted from the bookstore model used by Anythink
Public Libraries
Entirely Word Based
First elementary school library of its kind in the United
States (not a hybrid, DDC eliminated from the catalog
entries, completely)
Unique cataloging and classification grid created for this
project
7. Mackin Educational Resources
Mackin was the only vendor willing to take
on this innovative, ground breaking project.
It involved:
Breaking down mental barriers-Mackin
rarely says No.
Modifying processes in nearly every dept.
Transforming the thinking of many staff
members concerning classification and
cataloging-almost like learning a foreign
language. You could not try to translate
into Dewey.
8. Mackin (cont.)
Allocating 3 months to assemble and
pack the $90,000.00 order. A typical
Mackin order takes 45 days.
Allocating programming resources-3 full
time programmers were assigned to this
project. A normal project had 0
programmer allocations.
This project had over 100 lists on
Mackin.com. This generated 250 sets. A
normal opening day collection has 1-10
sets.
9. St. Vrain Valley School District-
Inventing the Wheel
Our challenges:
Transforming our thinking. Until that visit to Anythink
Public Libraries, we were a Dewey institution.
Creating the grid to be used by Mackin-BISAC would not
work and neither would Anythink’s or Maricopa’s. Our grid
HAD to match curriculum needs.
Classifying over by 6000 titles manually. Took about 750-
1000 hours. (Mackin literally checked in on me every three
days if they had not heard from me)
10. Advantages to this type of
system
Empowers students to be
indepenent searchers and
users of information
Reduces work load of
librarian
Shelving nonfiction is no
longer feared by non-
librarians
11. The Data!
In anticipation of the potential impact of this project on the
school library community, I collected baseline checkout
statistical data on my test group, students enrolled in the
Erie feeder system in 4th grade in the 2010-2011 school
year. This consisted at the time of two schools, Erie
Elementary and Black Rock Elementary. I followed these
same students as 5th graders when Red Hawk Elementary
opened their library with the bookstore model in the 2011-
2012 school year.
12. Fiction Check Out Data Shows….
11 different genres exist in the bookstore model used at Red Hawk
Elementary School.
Black Rock and Erie students experienced approximately the same
number of checkouts in both years in the same categories both
years. Students in both schools checked out the majority of books in
the Fantasy Genre
Red Hawk students experienced an increase of 372 checkouts with
the highest percentage in the Realistic Fiction genre.
Conclusions:
Red Hawk students are checking out books in a variety of genres.
Red Hawk students who did not check out books from the library as
4th graders are now able to find the books of interest to them. This
model of classification and organization transformed the value of
the library to these students.
13. Non Fiction Check Out Data:
Erie Elementary students checked out 140 less nonfiction
books as 5th graders then they did as 4th graders
Black Rock Elementary School students checked out 328
less nonfiction books as 5th graders than they did as 4th
graders.
Red Hawk Elementary School students checked out 422
more nonfiction books as 5th graders than they did as 4th
graders.
61% of all books checked out by Red Hawk students were
nonfiction. Black Rock students checked out 39% nonfiction
and Erie Elementary checked out 46% nonfiction. Red Hawk
matched the best practice guideline for the collection. (60%
of the collection consists of non-fiction materials)
14. Non Fiction Check Out
Conclusions:
Red Hawk students find a word based nonfiction section
easier to navigate than the Dewey Decimal System. For
example, if the teacher or student needs nonfiction
resources on an environmental problem like oil spills, the
teacher or student would need to locate materials in a
Dewey library in the following categories: 363 (history of oil
spills), 639 (effects on animals), 628 (how they occur), and
507 (experiments). In the bookstore model, all of these
books are located together under the Environmental
section. This saves the time of the student, teacher and
librarian.
15. What the Data Does Not Show
Red Hawk students are making smooth transitions
between print resources and Internet Resources
Red Hawk students are making connections between
fiction and nonfiction materials. If they checked out a
science fiction book, they are checking out
corresponding nonfiction resources at the same time.
These students are making smooth transitions between
picture books and fiction books.
Students as young as Kindergarten are self-directed and
empowered to find resources without the need of an
adult- this frees up the time of the Teacher Librarian for
other library related duties.
16. Cont.
Kindergarten students prefer nonfiction materials to
picture books at a ratio of 9 to 1.
100% of the staff prefer this type of library to a Dewey
library.
The on-line catalog is only used to look up a specific
title. It is not needed for students and staff to browse
the collection.
Shelving the returned books takes a third less time than
a traditional Dewey library saving the time of the
librarian that can be spent on co-teaching and
collaboration with other school staff.
18. Contact Us:
Holli Buchter, St. Vrain Valley School District.
Buchter_Holli@svvsd.org
Ryan Thomas, Mackin Educational
Resources, ryan@mackin.com
