What is a nonfiction book?

Nonfiction books contain information

about different subjects -- people, places, or things.

They describe true facts about the

topic being written about. All

Nonfiction books are factual.

All nonfiction books in our media

center are found together in the

same area of the library. These

books are arranged numerically (by

number) according to their subject

matter.

Like the fiction books, nonfiction books also have an “address” on their spine that tells

you where to find them in the library. It is easy

to tell the difference between a fiction and

nonfiction book because the fiction book is marked with

letters and the nonfiction book is

marked with letters and numbers.

Example : The Book of Seashells by Allen Shore has a call number

597

Sh

(Section of the library or Class Number)

(Author’s last name Shore)

Call Number

Ordering Nonfiction Call Numbers on the shelves:Remember that when the numbers are all different, you do not have to look at the letters. If any of the numbers are the same, you need to look

at , and alphabetize the letters.

564

Th

432

Ki

384

Ru

152

Ei

974

Om

757

Br

753

Ab

759

Pe

752

He

751

Ca

The number system used for organizing nonfiction books is called the Dewey Decimal System.

It was invented by a young student library

assistant in 1876 named Melville Dewey. He divided all human

knowledge into 10 broad subject areas. The

subject of a book will determine its number.

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