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Anticipatory Set

The librarian should select a stack of books of various sizes, shapes and colors, and a second stack of one or two books from each of the Dewey areas.  Showing the first set of books, ask:  “How could we arrange these books on the shelves in the library?” Answers will vary:  by size, shape, color, thickness, author, title. Discuss potential problems with arranging books this way. Explain that libraries have a unique way of arranging books on the shelves so that books of the same type are found together.  Some books, like fiction and Everybody (picture) books are arranged by the author’s last name, so that all of the Beverly Cleary or J. K. Rowling books will be in the same place.  Nonfiction books are arranged according to a numbering system known as the Dewey Decimal System.

Objectives

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Input

Note: This lesson may be taught while students are learning to use the electronic library catalog in third and fourth grade, but will need to be repeated and expanded as students develop in their abilities to understand classification and decimals.

(If possible, seat students near the nonfiction section.)  We have been learning how to use the library catalog to search for books and other materials by author, title and key word. During these lessons, you have written down the book’s call number. Call numbers are what enable us to find books on the library shelves. Just as your home has an address consisting of a house number and a street name, each library book has an address that is called the call number. This address is found on the spine of the book.
 

Using several books prepared with extra-large spine labels, and transparencies,
discuss the following:

Who remembers the difference between fiction and nonfiction? (review, reinforce).

Fiction books and Everybody (picture) books or story books are easiest to find, because they are arranged by the last name of the author. When we searched the library catalog for books by Beverly Cleary, we found several and they all have the call number (write on overhead or chart):

F
Cle

What does the “F” on the top line mean? Fiction. All fiction books have an F on the top line of the call number. Where are the fiction books located in the library? (Ask students to explain, point to fiction section).
 

What about the Everybody or picture books?

E
Del

This is the call number of a book called The Goose Who Wrote a Book, by Judy Delton. The E means that it is an Everybody or picture book. Where are the Everybody books located in the library? (Ask students to explain, point to Everybody section).

In both of these sections, the books are arranged in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, so the Beverly Cleary books will be in the C section of the fiction shelves and the book by Judy Delton will be in the D section of the Everybody shelves. Note that the shelves have labels: A’s, B’s, C’s, etc.
 

Nonfiction books are more complicated. When we searched the library catalog, we found a book called My Pet Hamster by Anne Rockwell. It had the following call number (write on overhead or chart):

636.9
Roc

What do you think the Roc on the second line of this call number stands for? (First three letters of the author’s last name, just like the fiction books).
The top line, which is a number, indicates the book's location or address on the library shelves—the call number. It is located in the 600s in the nonfiction section. Where is the nonfiction section? (Ask students to explain or point.) These books are arranged by numbers from 000 to 999 (write on overhead or chart).
 

A long time ago, a man named Mr. Dewey invented a system for arranging books in the library. He wanted all the books about one subject to be together on the shelves, so if you want to go to the shelves to find books about hamsters, you will find all of them located with the My Pet Hamster book we talked about a minute ago at 636.9. And books about other animals will be close by.
Mr. Dewey came up with a system for dividing all of the books that have ever been written into ten categories. This system is called the Dewey Decimal System. Use the Dewey Decimal Classification Chart transparency.  Provide students with a copy of the chart and/or commercially prepared bookmarks with the Dewey chart.
 

How many categories of information are there in the Dewey Decimal System? Emphasize the word decimal. If they have trouble, ask how many years there are in a decade, noting that the ”dec” means 10.

From the second set of books selected for this lesson, show a book or two from each classification and talk about the types of information found in books in each class.  Before books come to our library, the books are assigned a call number according to the chart above, which indicates where they will be placed on the library shelves. Explain using examples of books and topics students are familiar with.
Many books have a more complicated number that includes one or two or several numbers beyond the decimal point. For example (write on overhead or chart):

636.088
Roy

This is the number for a book about pets. The .088 helps arrange books in a more detailed way. In a smaller library like ours, you will usually be able to find the book you want without knowing all of the decimal numbers, but at larger places like the high school libraries or public libraries you will need to understand the decimal numbers to be able to find books you need. You can also remember the Dewey numbers of subjects you like and where they are located in the library.
 

Use several more examples using books with enlarged call numbers on topics students will be interested in. For older students, an activity arranging decimal numbers in order may be used.

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Modeling

Write the call number for a book located in the section of the shelves nearest you on the overhead or chart. Walk to the shelves and locate the book, noting for the students:

Check for Understanding

Provide students with call numbers for books in the collection that you have written on the Call Number House template or the Call Slip (for older students). Have them work in pairs to locate books on the shelves. Have them stay at the place where the book is located until you come to check with them.

Guided and Independent Practice

Students will use the library catalog and locate materials on the shelves for personal reading and teacher assignments. The ability to locate books on the library shelves has been identified as a key skill for students as they enter secondary school. Each librarian should conduct an assessment of each fifth or sixth grade student’s ability to do this, using an activity such as that used in the Check for Understanding above or another assessment.

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This page was last updated on May 23, 2008.