Organizing/Shelving Books

The easiest way to get Catholic Charities' libraries up and running quickly is utilizing a lending library model. Until a time when the number of materials or budget allows for an automated cataloging system, the materials just need to be organized in the library spaces to make it easy for residents to browse and find items.

• Many small, lending libraries, like those at Catholic Charities, do not have a card catalog or any tracker/database.

• A simple excel spreadsheet could be used to create a library database/catalog, if desired.

• Determine what types of materials (books, magazines, DVDs, etc.) will be in the library.

  • Examples of sections of the library could include:

    • Picture Books

    • Youth Chapter Books

    • Youth Graphic Novels

    • YA/Teen

    • Adult Fiction

    • Adult Non-Fiction

    • Reference (dictionaries, encyclopedias)

  • To make browsing and locating a book easy for users, determine what order the books will be shelved. Options could include:

    • By sections (determined above), then within each section:

      • For Fiction:

        • Alphabetical by Title, or

        • Alphabetical by Author's last name

      • For NonFiction

        • Alphabetical by Title, or

        • Alphabetical by Author's last name, or

        • By Subject (i.e. dinosaurs, travel), or

        • By Dewey Decimal (could be found by searching the title in a public library catalog)

          • As an example, if you have the book "Who Was Kobe Bryant", by searching the Multnomah County Library website/catalog (https://multcolib.org/) for that title, you will find the Dewey Decimal call number is 796.323.

  • Labeling - before shelving a book for the first time:

    • Sticker the spine with a label (ex. Demco spine labels: https://www.demco.com/demco-reg-gaylord-reg-processing-spine-labels-34-x-1). This could have the name of the building/media center (Kateri, Esperanza, McCoy, and Molalla) printed on it, if you want to books to stay in one location. It could also have the section of the library the book will be shelved in.

    • Stamp or sticker the inside front page with "Catholic Charities of Oregon" and a phone number or address. This will help in getting books returned to the libraries in case the book is lost/found, returned to another library accidentally, etc.

  • Shelving/Signage

    • Now that all the books are labeled, place them on the shelves in the appropriate sections (i.e., picture book), in the order you determined above (i.e., alphabetical by title).

    • Simple printed signage will help residents more easily find the materials they are looking for.