Hey, Librarians! Do You Still Dewey It?

Do your friends and relatives say to you, “Aren’t you glad you don’t use the Dewey Decimal System any more”?

Most of the time I am sure they mean the old card catalog (you know, that oak artifact with cute little drawers that you took home for your scrapbooking die cuts [Ahem!].) Of course, there are some libraries that have gone the bookstore route…grouping all books Italian in one area, not caring a whit that they are cookbooks (641) or language (450) or travel (945). De-Deweyfication, they call it! Well, we revere Melvil Dewey in my library. I teach the classification system to my students and tell them it is the same system used in the public library. So, if they want to find baseball books in a hurry, just head down the 796 aisle.

If you work in an elementary school library, or other children’s library, you might like these free Dewey posters. They fit in 8.5 x 11 inch vertical sign holders. I put them on top of my library shelves. You could also laminate them, and affix them to the wall:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elementary-Library-Dewey-Signs-1203932