How Do I...?
Find a Book on the Shelf
Both Adult and Children’s reference and circulating books are arranged on the shelves in numerical order according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system, which divides all books into ten classifications with numbers as follows:
000-099 Computer science, information & general:
- encyclopedias
- periodicals
- newspapers
Example: 030 is the number for encyclopedias
100-199 Philosophy & psychology:
- aesthetics
- psychology
- logic
- ethics
Example: 150 is the number for psychology
200-299 Religion:
- Bible
- theology
- church
Example: 230 is the number for Christian Doctrine Theology
300-399 Social Sciences:
- sociology
- economics
- law
- education
Example: 330 is the number for economics
400-499 Language:
- dictionaries
- grammar
- readers
Example: 423 is the number for dictionaries of the English language
500-599 Sciences:
- mathematics
- astronomy
- physics
- chemistry
Example: 540 is the number for chemistry
600-699 Technology:
- engineering
- agriculture
- business
Example: 650 is the number for business
700-799 Arts & recreation:
- architecture
- sculpture
- painting
- music
Example: 780 is the number for music
800-899 Literature:
- poetry
- drama
- essays
Example: 811 is the number for American poetry
900-999 History & geography:
- general geography
- travel
- histories of all countries
Example: 973 is the number for a history of the United States
Material organized by the Dewey Decimal Classification system can be found in:
- Reference (do not circulate)
- Non-Fiction
- New Books
- Large Print
- Paperbacks
- Test and Career
Biography:
Biographical works, including autobiographies, are arranged alphabetically by the family name of the subject(s) (Example: Kennedy or Kennedy Family).
Fiction:
Long fiction is shelved separately from non-fiction and genre fiction (such as Mystery and Science Fiction) and is arranged alphabetically by author’s last name.
Mystery:
Popular novels, short stories, or dramas about an unusual occurrence such as a murder or a disappearance that remains unexplained, are shelved in the Mystery collection and are arranged by the author’s last name.
Science Fiction:
A highly imaginative form of fiction, based on scientific speculation, and often depicting life in the future or on other worlds, these books are shelved in the Science Fiction collection, and are arranged alphabetically by author’s last name.
Short Stories:
Works of short fiction are usually between 2,000 and 10,000 words in length, in which the author limits the narrative to a single character or group, at a particular moment in time. Short stories written by a single author are shelved in the Fiction collection alongside the author’s other works. Short stories in a collection or anthology are shelved in the Short Story collection alphabetically by the first word in the title. All short stories have a blue label on the spine indicating such.
Western:
Works of fiction typically set in the 19th century American West, whose characters are usually cowboys, frontiersmen, outlaws, ranchers and miners are shelved in the Western collection and are arranged alphabetically by author’s last name.
Reading List Titles:
This collection of books designated as required reading by the Connetquot Central School District (past and current) also includes Book Discussion selections used by the library. Both fiction and non-fiction titles are arranged alphabetically by author’s last name.
Large Print:
The large print collection is grouped by fiction and non-fiction works. Fiction is arranged by genre (Mystery, Science Fiction, Western, etc.), Non-fiction is arranged by Dewey Decimal Classification number, and Biography is shelved alphabetically by the last name of the subject.
The Dewey Decimal Classification number for any non-fiction material is found in the Online Public Access Computer (iBistro) under author, title, subject or keyword.