Librarians Weigh in on Arizona's Dewey–Less Library
Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal,06/06/2007
Residents of Gilbert, AZ, might think they're at Barnes & Noble rather than the Perry Branch Library when it opens later this month. That's because it's one of the first in the nation to get rid of the Dewey decimal system.
Instead, the library's entire 31,000-item collection will be shelved by topic and alphabetized by an author's last name, the same way it's done at bookstores, says Marshall Shore, coordinator for adult services for the Maricopa County Library District.
The reason for the bold move is that the vast majority of those surveyed say the main reason they visit the library is to browse. "So we're trying to make it as customer-service friendly as possible," says Shore.
Shore says library officials felt it was necessary to make the giant leap and decided to pilot the Dewey–less library at Perry, a new 28,000-square-foot facility that will be part of the new Perry High School. Besides, he says, Dewey isn't "fail safe" and that the classification system has often confused and frustrated patrons.
One thing's for sure—getting rid of the world's most widely used library classification system has rattled some librarians. "Just the idea of this is totally outrageously ridiculous," says Francis Fourie, an assistant librarian at Walker Grant Middle School in Fredericksburg, VA. "How can you change a system—a workable, understandable system—where you can walk in any library right around the world and find the right book at the right address on the shelf."
Although Liz McMahon, a media specialist at Messalonskee Middle School in Maine, says she's toyed with the idea of ditching Dewey, she's never done it because there are too many titles that simply don't fit into one category. "At least with the Dewey decimal system, you can find the number for a book, you can follow it to the bookcase, to the shelf, and then to the book," she says.
Emily Honaker, a media specialist at Delaware Area Career Center, a vocational high school in Ohio, says making books more accessible doesn't mean having to do away with Dewey. "Some people just don't have common sense," she wrote on LM_NET, an online discussion board for school librarians. "If they want to make the library more like a book store, do it with signs rather than rearranging the library to look like a bookstore."
Others, like Lisa Moellering a librarian at Rice University, are taking a wait-and-see approach. "I see this is being done in a public library, and [since] they tend to be customer-driven, this may make sense," she says. "The goal of a public librarian is not necessarily to teach the customer, but to give them what they want."
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| Submitted by: | Carol Pounds (poundsc@ocps.net) 6/27/2007 9:56:03 AM PT |
| Location: | Lakeview Middle School, Winter Garden, FL |
| Occupation: | Library Media Specialist |
I believe that libraries need a standardized method of organization even though Dewey isn't perfect. However, I have organized my fiction collection by genre, i.e., adventure, sports fiction, etc. during the previous school year and my circulation in the fiction section doubled each month over the same month the previous year. Everything is still in alpha order in each genre section (fiction only). The kids and teachers love it! The titles they like are now all in the same section and they can go to the shelves and browse! Being user friendly is what we are all about after all.
| Submitted by: | Mary Fuka 6/8/2007 9:35:20 AM PT |
| Location: | Lidgerwood, ND |
| Occupation: | K-12 Librarian |
Did this in my K-12 public school years ago, circulation soared! If it's really about the reader, Dewey's go to go.
| Submitted by: | Tanya Lile (yamahasrus2@msn.com) 6/7/2007 9:58:27 PM PT |
| Location: | Washington |
| Occupation: | Elementary Librarian |
Help! I was just hired and am in training for an Elementry Librarian position. I am learning the "paper trail" and will be hand typing reference cards next week for the cardex file....on and ELECTRIC TYPEWRITER.. isn''t there some type of software available to do it in Word on the iMac???? I can''t see finding time to type up all the new books by hand...arggggh! I"m also researching info on the Dewey system and stumbled onto this awesome website! Thanks for all your input,, it really helps us newbies out!
| Submitted by: | TAM KLEIN 6/7/2007 12:06:20 PM PT |
I maintain two libraries in different schools, one with Dewey & one without. Dewey makes it much easier to service teachers who know what topics they want but it is a nightmare to reshelve all the books after the students "browse". If I had to do it again. I would leave both schools without Dewey.
| Submitted by: | LIZ MCMAHON (lmcmahon@msad47.org) 6/7/2007 6:02:07 AM PT |
| Location: | Messalonskee Middle School Library |
| Occupation: | Library Media Specialist |
Never "toyed with ditching Dewey" but have thought of rearranging my FICTION section by genre. Big difference! Still a strong proponent of Dewey although I think classification (i.e. subject headings) could be revamped to reflect more common terminology.
| Submitted by: | Suzie Riddle (sz@fabsville.com) 6/6/2007 1:49:09 PM PT |
| Location: | Dallas, Texas |
| Occupation: | Children''''s Librarian |
I love the Dewey system. It''''s a beautiful thing! It assists browsing by subject. I would hate to see it go.
I worked at a small school library that attempted to shelve without Dewey, but we spent a lot of time figuring out where to put things. If we had used Dewey, that would have been decided for us.
| Submitted by: | Theodore R. Salvaori (trsalvadori@yahoo.com) 6/6/2007 12:28:37 PM PT |
| Location: | Margaret Heggan Free Public Library, New Jersey |
| Occupation: | Technical Services Librarian |
A similiar decision was made at my library. Instead of removing Dewey altogether, certain portions are being rewritten in order to group more like items together. For example taking remodeling 643; house plans 728; interior decoration 747; wiring 620's; plumbing and construction 680's etc. and merging them all into one collection has been very popular with our customers. All items concerning "collectibles" were merged. The 800's are cataloged by genre, no longer by country of origin and usage has increased.
I work in a public library which holds roughly 75,000 items. The process of rewriting Dewey is long, painful and frustrating BUT can be very rewarding. If it fits your customer base, give it a try.
Every library I've ever worked in made local changes to Dewey especially after a new edition of DDC would come out. How many of you make every change they suggest with each edition? How many of you keep up with the weekly updates? We're all guilty to a certain degree of not following the rules.
Remember a call number is only a location device. And as far as the argument that it confuses customers who know Dewey, well before we start counting users, how many actual librarians know and understand Dewey. (As a test, how many different ways can you think of to catalog a biography - under "B", under "921"... your turn!!)
| Submitted by: | Jennifer M Smith (jknoerze@rcls.org) 6/6/2007 11:56:55 AM PT |
| Location: | Suffern Free Library |
| Occupation: | Head of Children's Services |
I would like to know more about what categories they are using. Are they just putting all mammals together and then alphabetizing the authors? Won't that make it harder to find, say, three books on bears. The dewey numbers at least keep all the books on one animal together. It is an interesting idea and I would like to know more about their method.
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