TO DEWEY,OR NOT

TO DEWEY:T H A T I S T H E Q U E S T I O N

RECENTHISTORY

HOT TOPIC DISCUSSION GROUP :

DEWEY VS . GENRE SHELVING

2013 ALA MidwinterMeeting in Seattle

6 PANELISTS OFFERING DIFFERENT VIEWS

Prompted by the Kansas Association of School Librarians :

"The argument forstandardized organization ofschool library collections

compromises accessibility on the locallevel of information retrieval,

while customized arrangement oflibrary materials challenges

universal accessibility across libraries."

Consistent

Uniform

Universal

Relational

Hierarchal

Comfortable

DEWEYDEFENDERS

DEWEY I S

From "Dewey Do Dewey Don't" by Carol A. Gordon

"The world of information has becomeso overloaded that,

if we don’t aid students byscaffolding their investigation,

they will becomecompletely overwhelmed

and resort to usinginferior information resources."

Daunting

Overwhelming

Not developmentally appropriate

Not user-friendly

Difficult

Intimidating

Anxiety

Frustration

DEWEYDITCHERS

DEWEY I S

DEWEY CAUSES

From "Curating the Shelves" by Deborah Schiano

BEFOREDITCHING

From "One Common Challenge - Two Different Solutions" by Judi Moreillon

Successful reorganization projects have clear goals

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TOACHIEVE?11 .

To create a system that is flexible, child-friendly, browsable as

well as searchable

For the library program to be an integral part of improving

reading proficiency by stimulating more reluctant and striving

readers to read more and use the resources of the school more

effectively.

To make our classification system work harder for the students

and not the students working hard to understand the system.

To help students make connections and correlations between

similar subjects.

SO MANYOPTIONS

Classify fiction by genre , nonfiction byDewey

Keep fiction by author , changenonfiction to subject-basedorganization

Revolving method - moving nonfictioninto genre sections for periods of time

Rearrange library - showcase fictioncollection

Combine fiction and nonfiction intoone collection organized by topic/genre

Classify items based on alignment withthe curriculum

MODELSTO

CONSIDER

HELLOMY NAME IS

BISAC

HELLOMY NAME IS

BCS

HELLOMY NAME IS

C3

HELLOMY NAME IS

WordThink

HELLOMY NAME IS

ShelfLogic

HELLOMY NAME IS

Metis

Book Industry Standards andCommunication from BISG

Buchter Classification System

St. Vrain Valley School District (CO)

Customer Centered ClassificationMarkham Public Library (ON)

Classification System

Ethical Culture School (NY)

Maricopa County Library District (AZ) Rangeview Library District (CO)

Successful reorganization projectsalign with:

THOUGHTFULAPPROACH

Common Core

State Standards

AASL Standards

for the 21st Century Learner

Ranganathan's

Laws of Library Science

Local School

Curriculum

User

Needs

REPORTEDBENEFITS

Users can navigate the l ibrary

independently

Circulation statistics go up

Shelving materials takes less time

Increase in students wanting to check

out books

State reading test improvements

Boosted the l ibrary ’s standing in the

school and community

Students feel positive , empowered

and successful

A sampling of the manypositive outcomes articulatedby librarians who have madean organizational change:

TO DEWEY,OR NOT

TO DEWEY:T I M E F O R D E B A T E

TO DEWEY,OR NOT

TO DEWEY:“ T H E R E I S N O O N E R I G H T A N S W E R .

D O T H E R E S E A R C H A N D D E C I D E . ”

Hilda K. Weisburg, Moderator of Dewey vs. Genre Shelvingat 2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle