Call Numbers

We're going to talk about call numbers shortly, but first, let’s review the 10 Main Dewey Classes, using our simple way to remember them.

100 Think of #1 - Me
200 How did I get here?
300 Who is my neighbor?
400 How do I talk to my neighbor?
500 What do I talk about?
600 What can I make?
700 Fun & Games
800 What makes us who we are?
900 How did it happen?
000 Room to grow

Oracle Think Quest.(1999).Basic/img19.gif. Retrieved from

http://library.thinkquest.org/5002/Harder/500600.htm?tqskip=1

Before we look deeper into the Dewey Decimal System, let’s cover a few basics like those call numbers.

Call numbers could be called the “address” of books in the library, since they tell where the books “live” on the shelves. Call numbers are located near the bottom of the book on the spine, as the diagram shows. Dewey Decimal numbers are used in many call numbers. But not all call numbers actually have numbers in them. We'll learn more about that later.

The bottom letters of the call number are the first three letters of the author’s last name.

Library books in the nonfiction section are arranged on the shelves in order by their numbers. Each Dewey number has to have 3 numbers to the left of the decimal point, even if some of them are zeros (like 001.9). The nonfiction section of our library at Southern Elementary School starts with the 000 section and ends with 999.

When you're looking for a book, with a Dewey number like 152.4, first look for the sign on top of the bookshelf that says, " 100 Thinking, Feeling, Believing". Then you can "read" the shelves like you read the pages of a book, from left to right and top to bottom. Start at the left on the top shelf and move to the right till the shelf ends. Then go to the next shelf beneath it and move left to right. When you've read the bottom shelf, move to the bookshelf on the right and start over until you find your number.


For your assignment, post a comment listing a favorite book by its call number, title and author. Do not choose the same book someone else has used.

Example comment:
808.3 S is for Story, by Esther Hershenhorn
HER