Adapted for Community Managed Library Use by Karen Alvey. Original Authors: Emma Croker, Marie Quinnell, Karen Alvey, and Anne Buchanan
adult fiction
general fiction for adults
all books should be filed in a to z sequence under the author’s last name. Below are examples of some unusual names, which can cause problems for library workers. follow the rules provided in these cases.
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books by daphne du maurier
these should be filed under ‘d’ (du, de la and other examples of prefixes are not middle names and are treated as the beginning of last names).
cynthia harrod-eagles books
these should be filed under ‘h’ (hyphenated surnames are treated as a single long name).
eric van lustbader books
these should be filed under ‘l’ (van is treated as the middle name because it is capitalized)
books written by john le carré
these should be filed under ‘l’ (this is the same as the rule that applies to daphne du maurier – see above).
princess michael of kent books
these should be filed under the “m” as members of the royal family do not use their surnames (eg windsor). we don’t file under the title (eg princess, duke), so we file under the first letter of the title’s name (in this example, michael).
sir arthur conan doyle books
these should be filed under ‘d’ (we ignore the title (sir), and there is no hyphen between the last two names).
dame judi dench books
these should be filed under ‘d’ (we ignore the title (give me) and file under the last name).
miss read books
These should be filed under the “r” as we ignore the title (Miss) and file them under the last name.
alexander mccall smith books
these should be filed under the “s” since the last two names are not separated by hyphens.
books by carlos ruiz zafón
these should be filed under the “z” since the last two names are not separated by hyphens.
authors with last names beginning with ‘mc’ or ‘mac’
all of these should be filed at the beginning of the ‘m’ sequence, alphabetically by the rest of the author’s last name.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
mccloud
mackay
macleod
macmanus
mcsweeney
authors with last names beginning with o’
all of these should be filed alphabetically within the sequence ‘o’.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
o’keefe
ormond
o’shea
osmond
authors with names prefixed with ‘von’
these should be filed under “v”, alphabetically by name following the prefix (same rule applies to daphne du maurier and john le carré – see above).
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
abele
von armin
authors with common surnames
many authors share the same surname. books by different authors with the same last name should be placed under the first letter of the last name and then alphabetically by the first letter of the first name.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
ali smith
alexander mccall smith
wilbur smith
zadie smith
books written by saints
These should be filed alphabetically by saint’s name, regardless of how the prefix is spelled.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
st. agustin
saint john
genre fiction
Our main libraries have separate sections for crime, westerns, science fiction and fantasy. all fiction books that fall into this category will have stickers on the spines. these can be filed, following the rules above, in separate sections of the library, or in the main fiction section. the stickers allow our customers to identify these books and allow them to choose books within certain fiction genres with ease.
general shelving rules
shelves should have an empty space at the end of each one to ensure there are not too many people. a good measuring rule is to always leave enough room to add two or three hardcover books.
adult fiction in large print
Large print adult fiction should be set aside following the guidelines for general adult fiction = see above for details.
stories
If the book is written by an author, it should have a “stories” sticker on the spine and should be placed on the shelves in the normal a-z sequence (see above) under the author’s last name. eg d. h. lawrence “selected stories” should have a tag, but be below the “l” for lawrence in ordinary adult fiction run.
Edited collections of short stories (those with multiple authors) should have a “short stories” label on the spine and be placed on a shelf at the beginning of the adult fiction sequence in alphabetical order of subject. eg the oxford book of horror stories, stories from the time of king arthur.
adult nonfiction
the dewey decimal classification system (ddc)
In all our libraries the books are arranged by subject using the ddc. each book is assigned a number, which can be seen on a sticker on the spine. this is often called a class mark or shelf mark. also known as the dewey number.
in western libraries, most of our libraries use numbers that run from
001-999.999
The first three digits on the spine label will indicate the broad area of the subject.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
travel in europe: 914
English history: 942
Digits after the decimal point (up to three digits) indicate further details of the topic covered in the book.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
travel in europe: germany: 914.3
english history: tudor: 942.05
all adult non-fiction books are filed in strict numerical order according to the numbers on the spines of each book. numbers after the decimal point are not a whole number.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
805 doesn’t look like a number higher than 81 after the decimal point, so if you’re archiving then 945.805 is file before 945.81.
biographies
All biographies are assigned the Dewey number 920 followed by the first three letters of the last name of the person the book is about.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
See Also: Are These States Cooking the Books on Coronavirus Data? – Center for American Progress Action
A biography of Winston Churchill would be classified as:
920ch
A biography of Emeline Pankhurst would be classified as:
tray 920
Sometimes biographies are classified without a number and the sticker will have a b/ followed by the first three letters of the last name of the person the book is about.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
See Also: Are These States Cooking the Books on Coronavirus Data? – Center for American Progress Action
A biography of Winston Churchill would be classified as:
b/chu
A biography of Emmeline Pankhurst would be classified as:
b/tray
all biographies are filed, alphabetically by the first three letters of the subject’s last name, at the end of the nonfiction string.
local studies
Lecture notes in local study books are prefixed with a letter. these are:
b = bathroom
l = local (around larger bathrooms)
s = somersault
g = bristol and gloucestershire
w = wiltshire
Local study articles also have three letters after the class numbers. the three letters refer to the author or publisher of the book.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
b945.805 tab
Local study items should be filed by area, then Dewey decimal number, first three digits, then three digits, then three letter alphabetically.
See Also: Diana Gabaldon – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com
for example:
b945.805 tab will be filed before b945.805 trb
children’s books
children’s fiction
all children’s fiction books will have a “c” on the spine to indicate that they belong to the children’s library or the children’s section of the library. there may be other letters such as ‘y’ (for younger readers, who are just beginning to read on their own or with some help) or ‘o’ for picture books intended for older children. please follow the bookshelf rules as for adult fiction.
Picture books and board books for young children are placed on the shelves of kindergarten boxes in no particular order.
children’s nonfiction
all children’s nonfiction books will have a dewey class number on the spine with the letter “c” before the number. please follow shelf rules as for adult nonfiction. follow dewey’s decimal classification for adult nonfiction
young adult books
all young adult books will have a ya or ya+ label on the spine to indicate the age appropriateness of the book for the customer.
already = suitable for 11-15 years old
ya+ = suitable for people over 15 years old
Please note that books tagged ya+ may contain adult themes, sexual scenes, or obscene language in the text. the labels we provide are for guidance only.
please follow the rating rules for adult fiction and adult non-fiction.
See Also: Lauren Blakely – Book Series In Order