Collaboration & Organization!

"We found some great books for you!!"

The Monday after winter break, I had put away all of the December holiday books that were on display on the windowsill.  Rather than filling them back up as usual, I decided to try something new!  Mrs. Bliven's third grade class visited in the morning, and I gave them a mission: select a book from the nonfiction section that you would recommend to other students and place it in one of the empty book easels.  I encouraged them to try and represent a variety of the ten categories represented in the Dewey Decimal system.  They were really excited to see their own choices on display, and it gave us the perfect opportunity to review that section of the library!

Once book look was over and everyone was back in their seats, I invited the students to take turns showing us which book they had selected and explaining why they made that choice.  Then I challenged them to identify which of Dewey's categories it would be found in based on the book's subject.  (I have posters in the library that gave them clues to try and figure it out!)  Of course, I took the time to explain why fictional titles like The Star Wars Encyclopedia and folktales are found in this section! *  

We had a very lively discussion and I know the students left the library with a stronger understanding of how the nonfiction section is organized.  Plus, several of the students looked at the call numbers of books in the new display to find other books to borrow.  It was definitely a win-win situation!!

Thanks for your help, third graders!

* Are you wondering why some fictional titles live in the nonfiction section?  Well, when Melville Dewey created his system to organize books, he actually accommodated all books, including, for example, novels, poetry, and folktales.  However, libraries usually separate the fictional chapter books into their own "fiction" section to make those books easier to find and browse.  Poetry, folktales, books based on movies and TV shows, etc., aren't typically in the style of a novel.  They stay better organized in the nonfiction section in the categories assigned to them rather than being shelved by author's last name in the fiction section!