Learn More About the Dewey Decimal System?

(SEE ALSO)

Middletown Thrall Library

Do the Dewey grades 4-12

The Dewey Decimal System is a numbered subject classification system from 000 to 999. It is used in most school and public libraries. It was created in 1876  by a librarian named Melvil Dewey to help bring order to library collections. 

Mr. Dewey did this by dividing all the knowledge of the world into 10 main subject areas. He gave each main subject a number from 000 to 900. These numbers are called call numbers. Then he divided each main subject area into smaller related topics and gave each of these topics a number. The smaller more specific topics were given decimal numbers. The 500 - Natural Sciences section is a good example of how Mr. Dewey's classification system works.

Why do libraries use the Dewey Decimal Classification System?

Before the Dewey Decimal System, libraries shelved books in the order they were added to the collection. This made it very difficult and inefficient for users to find the books they needed, because the books about the same subject were not shelved in the same area of the library.

Libraries began labeling and shelving books using the Dewey Decimal System because it brought order to the library collection. By shelving books about the same subject together in the library, users could find the books they need more easily and efficiently. Today, many libraries, like the Casis Library, also use the Dewey system to organize their Web site collections.

Exceptions to Dewey Decimal Classification

As library collections have grown, libraries have modified the Dewey system so that certain large collections of books are easier to locate. In most school and public libraries, the fiction, short stories, folklore and biography collections are shelved in their own sections. This is shere these books are shelved in the Casis Library:

Special Collections

Many libraries also have special collections. Special collections are shelved in separate areas of the library. Some materials in the special collections may not be checked out, but may only be used in the library. The Casis Library has these special collections: