The document provides guidelines for properly shelving items in a library to ensure materials can be easily found by customers and staff. It explains how to organize materials by genre, author name, and Dewey Decimal system. Key points include labeling items clearly, shelving in the correct alphabetical or numerical order, straightening shelves, and referring customers to staff as needed. The goal is accurate shelving to improve the library experience for all.

1. Shelving…
the right way
Created by At the
Kayci Barnett

2. The importance of Shelving
A customer
comes to the
Library looking
for an item.
= Happy
Custom
Customer or
Staff will be er
Checks our
able to find
catalog and
item quickly
finds an item
and easily
they want is
because of
checked in.
accurate
shelving.

3. You CAN tell a book by it’s cover.
Barcode Author
Spine Label
Title

4. and you can tell more by it’s
Spine.
 The spine
label tells
you where
the book
belongs.

5. Layout First Floor Category – Spine Label
 Hold Shelf – has a sticker with customer’s initials
 Popular – Fiction, Non Fiction, Biographies - F, ###.##, B
 DVD’s – Fiction, Non Fiction, Biographies - F, ###.##, B
 Newspapers/Magazines – Bust, New Yorker, Time, etc.
 CD’s – Classical, Country, Gospel, Holiday, Jazz, Rap, Rock, etc.
 Audio books – Fiction, Non Fiction, Biographies - F, ###.##, B
 Special Collections – TEX, D TEX, & G

6. Fiction, Non-Fiction, and
Biographies
 Most of our sections on the first floor like Popular, DVD’s and Audio
books are further divided into Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Biographies.
 Fiction is alphabetized by the author’s last name, and is indicated by
a “F” on the spine label.
 Non-Fiction is sorted numerically using the Dewey Decimal System
and is indicated by numbers, and then the first
three letters of the author’s last name.
 Biographies are indicated by a “B” on the spine label,
and are alphabetized by the fist three letters of the
subject’s last name. A book about Sam Walton is B WAL.

7. Popular
 The Popular section
includes - Fiction, Non-
Fiction, and Biographies.
 They have been released
within the last 6 months.
 They have a little yellow
sticker on the top of the
spine.
 The items on the left are
“popular,” the ones on
right are not.

8. Adult Fiction
 Fiction is arranged
alphabetically
according to author’s
last name.
 Books by authors
having the same last
name are arranged
alphabetically by the
author’s last and then
first name. For
example: Collins,
Jackie comes before
Collins, Joan

9. Adult Fiction - same author, multiple
titles
 Books by the same author are shelved alphabetically by
the first significant word in the title. This means you
ignore the “A,” “An,” or “The” only if it is the first word in a
title.
 The following are in the correct order:
Author Title
Jones, B. Equal Measures
Jones, B. An Extreme Remedy
Jones, B. The Long Road

10. Non Fiction
 YouTube - The Dewey Decimal Rap
Click the link

11. H o w d o e s the D e w e y
D e c im a l s y s t e m w o r k ?
 The basic thing to remember about the Dewey
Decimal filing system is this: file digit by digit -
. 451 _ (nothing goes before
. 451.01 any #)
. 451.012 (1 is less
. 451.023 than 2)
. 451.04 ALE (if two numbers are the same then
. 451.04 BEC alphabetize by the letters)

12. DVD’s
 We have Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Biographies
 DVD’s with the Children’s sticker on the spine
go upstairs.
Biography, Non-Fiction, Fiction

13. Audio books - Adult
Fiction Biography
Non-fiction

14. CD’S
 CD’S are alphabetized by the category. Once
you find the category then alphabetize by the
artists last name.
Watch out for
Childrens they go
upstairs.

15. Special Collections
 These items cannot be checked out, but will
occasionally end up on our carts. If they do,
hand it to the person at the Special Collections
desk.

16. Second Floor – Adult
 Adult Fiction F
 Graphic Novels GN
 Adult Non Fiction ###.##
 Large Print LP
 Paperbacks have a genre sticker
 Reference R
 Biographies B
 World Languages Spanish/Chinese

17. Second Floor…Getting there is half the
fun.
 Use the lift to get from
floor to floor with your
cart.
 You have to P U S H &
H O L D the button to go
up or down.
 Please assist patrons
who are trying to use lift.

18. Graphic Novels = GN
 We have three different age groups of graphic novels:
 Adult Graphic Novels - are divided into
Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Biographies
Adult Graphic Novels are shelved after the “Z’s” in Adult
Fiction.

19. Large Print
 Large Print also has Fiction, Non-Fiction, and
Biographies. Large print is identified by:
LP or it has a big green dot above the spine
label

20. Paperbacks
 In general, Adult Paperbacks are shelved in
their own separate area according to genre
(Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction,
and Horror) and are marked with genre stickers
and white spine labels with the
first letter of the author’s
last name (if it has 3
letters on the spine label it
goes with regular Adult Fiction).

21. Biographies
 Adult Biographies have a “B” on the spine label.
This youth
biography is
shelved in a
different location.

22. Reference
 Reference books
cannot be checked
out, and have an
“R” on the spine
label. Youth and
Adult are shelved
together.

23. World Languages
 Spanish – all Spanish materials have “Spanish”
written on the spine label, and most have a
Spanish sticker on them.
 The Spanish Collection includes
magazines, DVD’s Audio books,
Fiction, Non-fiction, and Youth
materials.
 Chinese, similarly, has “Chinese”
written on the spine label.

24. Second Floor - Youth
 Youth Biographies – YS B
 Graphic Novels-
GN J, GN Teen
 Teen Fiction -Teen
 Youth Magazines –
Disney, Nick, Thrasher, J-14,
Teen Vogue, etc.
 Audio Books - E, JF, YS, and Teen
 Youth Non Fiction – YS ###.##
 Junior Fiction - JF
 Story Totes – ST
 Children’s CD’s -
Childrens (on first line)

25. Biographies - Youth
 Biographies written for
young people have a “YS”
(youth services) on the
spine label, and are
shelved next to Adult
Biographies.

26. Graphic Novels = GN J and
Teen
 Junior = GN J and is shelved at the
beginning of the shelf.
 Teen = GN Teen
is shelved after the
GN J’s.

27. Easy Fiction vs. Easy Readers
 Both Easy Fiction and Easy
Readers have “E” on the spine
label, but are shelved in different
locations.
 Easy Fiction are usually bigger
picture books.
 Easy Readers are usually
smaller, are for beginning
readers,
and have an ABC sticker on the
spine.

28. Program Books
 Have “PROGRAM” written on the spine label,
and are used for programs, so are not available
for checkout. Hand them to the Librarian at the
Reference desk.

29. Guidelines for Shelving
 Concentrate on Accuracy
 Be courteous, pleasant,
and businesslike at all
times.
 Adhere to dress
guidelines.
No Jeans, Shirt with Collar
 Refer all customers to
appropriate library staff
when you are asked
anything other than

30. Guidelines for Shelving
 Be especially careful at the ends and
beginnings of shelves so that the correct
sequence of materials are not interrupted or
confused.
 Park your cart across the end of the book
stack, leaving the aisle clear for customers.
 Check the books on either side of each one
that you shelve in case there is an error in the
sequence.
 Re-shelve any books that you find slightly out
of order.

31. Guidelines for Shelving
 Straighten up the
books on the shelf as
you go, and pull the
books forward to the
shelf edge.
 Push bookends into
place.

32. Guidelines for Shelving
 Shift books to the next, or the previous, shelf if
they are overcrowded.
 Pick up and take books to the “in house count”
area of the reference desk if they have been
left lying on the floor, or piled up at the ends of
the shelves.

33. Guidelines for Shelving
 Large books need to be shelved spine down to
avoid pages coming loose from the binding.
NO

34. Guidelines for Shelving
 Always,
shelve books
facing down to
facilitate shelf reading.
Watch for children and

customers while pushing
book cart.

35. Guidelines for Shelving
 Next time you come in you’ll be ready to shelve on
your own.
 Remember to
sign in and
wear your
name badge.
When done,
sign out and
return the
badge.

36. Thank You
 Thank you very much for
helping our staff and
customers get to the items
they want by shelving “the
right way”.
 Tell your trainer you are done
with the slideshow so you
can take a brief test on the
material covered, and then
get a tour of the library.