NONFICTION CATEGORIES

CATEGORIES OF NONFICTION

This section presented the biggest challenge for me. I debated leaving it in Dewey format, since it was already categorized topically that way, but ultimately decided to switch it too. I felt that some of the Dewey categorization was confusing to my learners. I also thought that there should be consistency in the call number system in all sections. Again, I let the books in this area decide the categories, and ended up with:

Map of my library.

NF1=Nonfiction Aisle 1

BIOGRAPHY

    • Activists
    • Adventurers
    • Artists
    • Athletes
    • Authors
    • Early Americans
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Helpers
    • Inventors
    • Politicians (includes leaders from other counties)
    • Presidents and First Families (just for US Presidents and First Families, large section)


HISTORY - USA

    • Native America
    • Pre-Colonial
    • Colonial
    • Westward Expansion
    • Civil War / Slavery
    • 1800's (for books with events from this period)
    • 1900's (for books with events from this period)
    • 2000's (for books with events from this period)
    • States
    • Pennsylvania
    • General Info


HISTORY - WORLD

    • Ancient
    • Medieval
    • 1800's
    • 1900's
    • Conflicts (WW1, WWII, etc.)
    • Places
    • General Info


TRADITIONS

    • Holidays
    • Religion
    • Mythology


SOCIETY

    • Careers
    • Citizenship
    • Community
    • Loss
    • Media
    • Self

NF2=Nonfiction Aisle 2

ANIMALS / CREATURES

    • Bears
    • Birds
    • Bison
    • Camels
    • Cats
    • Cows
    • Deer
    • Dogs
    • Elephants
    • Giraffes
    • Goats
    • Hippos
    • Horses
    • Insects
    • Kangaroos
    • Koalas
    • Monkeys
    • Prehistoric
    • Rabbits
    • Raccoons
    • Rodents
    • Reptiles / Amphibians
    • Sea Creatures
    • General Info


HEALTH

    • Human Body
    • Fitness
    • Medicine
    • Sickness
    • Substances


PLANTS


SCIENCE

    • Biomes
    • Chemistry
    • Disasters
    • Ecology
    • Engineering
    • Environment
    • Experiments
    • Evolution
    • Geology
    • Inventions
    • Math
    • Physics
    • Resources
    • Space
    • Water
    • Weather
Example: Nonfiction Spine Label

NF3=Nonfiction Aisle 3

ARTS

    • Architecture
    • Crafts
    • Drawing
    • Entertainment
    • Art History
    • Music
    • Origami
    • Photography


LITERATURE

    • Classics
    • Drama
    • Folk Tales
    • Language
    • Poetry
    • Quotations
    • Short Stories


PASTIMES

    • Building
    • Cooking
    • Games
    • Gardening
    • Sewing


SPORTS

    • Baseball
    • Basketball
    • Fishing
    • Hunting
    • Racing
    • Skating
    • Snow
    • Soccer
    • General Info


CENTER SHELF

PICTURE BOOKS

I sorted these by topic and placed them (front-facing) into baskets. The categories I used are:

  • Adventure
  • Animals
  • Community
  • Fairy Tales / Fables
  • Family
  • Food
  • History
  • Holidays
  • School
  • Space


REFERENCE

  • Atlas
  • Dictionary
  • Encyclopedia
  • Facts (such as Guinness)
  • Thesaurus