Shelving Tutorial Final Version

Black Belt Shelver at

Sump Memorial

Library

Sump is not just a place of learning, it’s

a place to have FUN, RELAX, and FIND

THE JOY IN READING!

Have you ever gone to

the library and searched

for a book the catalog

says is there, but you

can’t find it no matter

how hard you search???

The number one

reason proper

shelving is so

important...

If shelves start to look

like this...

A book could be lost for weeks,

months, even YEARS.

And we want you to be

the best shelvers

you can be!

This tutorial is to help guide you

through the basics of shelving in

Youth Services.

Don’t worry! We don’t expect you

to know everything. Cathy and

Mary, your shelving sensei, will

still be around if you need help

Karate chopping through any

blocks.

When you’re done with this

tutorial, you will be able to:

1. Describe the basic layout of the youth

services shelving setup

2. Identify the various spine labels used on

materials and their corresponding locations in the

library

3. Properly organize and alphabetize individual

materials within their labeled sections

Part One:

Learning the

Sections of Youth Services

Breaking it Down

There are

Seven main

sections of

Youth

Services

Within those

sections there

are special

collections:

Media Bags,

Graphic Novels,

Golden Sowers,

Eyewitness,

Star Wars,

LEGOs, and

Series

(These are

subject to

change)

Fill ‘Em In

Label the

sections on the

map: YA Non-Fiction

Special

Collections

YA Fiction

Bin Books

Easy Readers

Juvenile Picture

Books

Juvenile Fiction

Series

Juvenile

Non-Fiction

Part Two:

Spine Labels

J

811

SID

*Juvenile Non-fiction example

Spine Labels (aka Call Numbers) are

located on the spine of the book

Part 1:

The Classification

Number or Letters

(Tell the section the

book goes in)

Part 2:

The first three

letters of the

author’s last name

Fiction Books have

letters as their

Call Numbers

Non- Fiction Books

have Dewey Decimal

Call Numbers

JP

STE

Ex Picture

Book: A Sick Day for Amos McGee

By Philip and

Erin Stead

J

629.454

FLO

Ex Juvenile

Non-fiction:

Moonshot : the flight of Apollo 11

By Brian Floca

Bin Books BIN

Junior Picture Books JP

Junior Fiction J

FIC

Junior Easy Reader JE

Young Adult YA

LEGO LEGO

Star Wars STAR

WARS

Series SERIES

Media Bags JMB

Golden Sowers Has a Golden Sticker

Graphic Novels GRA

Eyewitness EYE

WIT

Now you try! Match the section with the

correct spine label, drawing lines

between them.

Bin Books JMB

Juvenile Picture

Books

YA

Juvenile Fiction Golden Sticker

Juvenile Easy Reader JP

Young Adult GRA

Media Bags BIN

Golden Sowers JE

Graphic Novels J

FIC

Part Three:

Time to Start Shelving

Fiction materials are

organized (within their

sections) alphabetically

by the author’s last

name

If multiple authors

have the same last

name, their first names

are the next to be al-

phabetized

Multiple books by the

same author are then

alphabetized by the

book title

Arthur Lost and Found Marc Brown

Arthur’s Perfect Christmas Marc Brown

Arthur’s Pet Business Marc Brown

Dora Loves Boots Alison Inches

999 TADPOLES Ken Kimura

Piggy Pie Po Audrey and Don Wood

Silly Sally Audrey Wood

Nothing To Do Don Wood

When in doubt, always remember NOTHING comes

before SOMETHING!

George Foreman Let George Do It!

Phyllis Root Ten Sleepy Sheep

Norman Bridwell Clifford’s Thanksgiving Visit

Michael Foreman Fortunately, Unfortunately

Alice Schertle 1, 2, I Love You

Norman Bridwell Clifford, We Love You

Alice Schertle When the Moon is High

Put these books in the order you would shelve them

Norman Bridwell Clifford, We Love You

Norman Bridwell Clifford’s Thanksgiving Visit

George Foreman Let George Do It!

Michael Foreman Fortunately, Unfortunately

Phyllis Root Ten Sleepy Sheep

Alice Schertle 1, 2, I Love You

Alice Schertle When the Moon is High

You’re almost

there! Your

non-fiction

brown belt is

coming up!

Non-fiction books are

shelved numerically using

the Dewey Decimal

Classification System.

It has numbers ranging

from 000-900s, and each

number range corresponds

to a different subject.

First, put together all

books with the same

whole number.

Then within those whole

numbers arrange books

from smallest to largest

based on their decimal

places.

You’re not done yet...

Many times, several books will have the

same Dewey Decimal number.

When that happens, the books are then

shelved using the same rules as fiction

books: first alphabetically by author’s

last name, then first name, then title.

J 027 Kathi Appelt Down Cut Shin Creek...

J 576.8 Hei Deborah Heiligman Charles and Emma...

J 576.8 Slo Christopher Sloan The Human Story...

J 577 All Michael Allaby Biomes of the World: Mountains

J 577 All Michael Allaby Biomes of the World: Temperate

Forests

J 598 Ler Carol Lerner On the Wing...

J 598.47

Hol

Kevin J. Holmes Penguins

Put these books in the order you would shelve them

J 811.43

Ste

James Stevenson Just Around the

Corner

J 793.8 Pre Fay Presto Magic for Kids

J 793.8 Lon Bob Longe Easy Hand Tricks

J 910.9 Phi Nathaniel Philbrick Revenge of the Whale

J 811.008

Nye

Naomi Shihab Nye Is This Forever, or

What?

Don’t get confused by all

those decimal places. Just

remember...

NOTHING BEFORE

SOMETHING!

J 793.8 Lon Bob Longe Easy Hand Tricks

J 793.8 Pre Fay Presto Magic for Kids

J 811.008

Nye

Naomi Shihab Nye Is This Forever, or

What?

J 811.43 Ste James Stevenson Just Around the Cor-

ner

J 910.9 Phi Nathaniel Philbrick Revenge of the

Whale

If you got

these

right...

you’re going

to be a

black belt

shelver in

no time!

If you found a Harry

Potter LEGOs book

sitting in the middle of

the library, where would

you shelve it?

How are shelving

fiction and non-fiction

different and how are

they similar?

Draw me a picture of a

spine label for a

Juvenile Graphic Novel

by Brian Vaughn

Now that you know the basics,

grab a cart and

GO FOR IT!

If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask!

Just remember the two basic rules:

1. Nothing before Something

2. Accuracy not Speed