Genrefication

An older blog post but still relevant:

In the middle school library I am constantly asked, "where are the mystery books?", "I want a book like....", "I like science fiction." This is my fourth year in middle school and I cannot tell you how many times I have heard these questions. Then I proceed by run around the fiction section like a crazy lady pulling books I can think of, ones I have read, or other students have enjoyed making a pile for the student.

So this year I decided to genre-fy the fiction area of our library. I was fortunate to visit the North Star Elementary library before this and saw what an amazing job she did over there. I was also lucky to get some tips to help make the process a little easier. So to start this, I first bought genre labels and plastic label protectors from Demco. Once I had these, I started working my way through the fiction area A to Z. I went through the books one by one and read the back of the book, the copyright page (sometimes summaries are found here), Follett, or even Amazon if needed to decide on the genre. Then once decided, I put on the genre label and label protector and put it back onto the shelf. Some books were WAY easier than others. I found some titles where two and three genres would fit. This problem I solved by deciding who I thought would be most likely to read and enjoy the book. I put it into that genre. If there were two genres that stood out I placed the main genre on the bottom with a sticker and a sub-genre above it. That way it will be shelved under the main genre. The example in this picture was the red dot above science fiction. The dot stands for dystopia.

After I finished this with all the books, I then pulled them off the shelves by genre and in alphabetical order. I lined them up face down on the floor in genres so they would be easy to put back onto the shelves. After pulling all the books of each genre into aisles and the whole fiction area was clear, then I started to place the books back onto the shelves in their new areas.

I am now making large signs to hang above each section so it is easier to find books. Students are loving this new way to find fiction books at least after they got used to not finding a specific series in a certain area or on the same shelf. I am loving that I can lead students to an area of interest and guide them from there.

****One thing to remember before taking your books off of the shelves.****Place a sticky note at the end of each shelf where your books stop. Then you will know how far to place the books when you put them back up. I had two full sections empty when I rearranged because I didn't do this and I had to fix them later.

Genres in our fiction area: mystery, science fiction, science fiction dystopian, 39 clues, fantasy, adventure, romance, horror, animals, realistic fiction, historical fiction, humor, sports, holidays.

To change in our Destiny system, I went to the catalog, update copies, and then batch update. Then I selected change call number/prefix and typed in the genre I was working on and scanned all the bar codes and hit update. Doing the catalog this way does mean I will have to do my inventory by each genre. If you are doing this during the school year while you still have books checked out means you will have to add labels and change those books in the catalog as they are returned.

Happy Reading Everyone!