march 17, 2016 jessica summer · 2019-11-23 · winooski memorial library winooski, vermont (802)...

Ditching DeweyMarch 17, 2016Jessica Summer

Sound Familiar?

Where are the truck books? Do you have any

books about snakes?

I want a kitty book!!!!!

We are starting to potty train…..

Let’s get a Halloween book.

Problems• Children can be afraid to ask for help• Parents often frustrated to look in multiple

places• Universal requests by topic, not author• Language barriers can make it more

intimidating to talk to a librarian

Children’s Experience

Have you ever looked for a book in the library that you

were unable to find?

93% said yes.

I want a princess book….

Catalog Nightmare

PL

743.4

A better wayReady to make a change? You have options!

– Metis– Dewey Lite– BISAC– Hybrids

Metis

• System created by school librarians• 26 categories arranged by topic• Fiction, nonfiction, picture books all

intershelved

Categories• A – Facts/Concepts

• B – Machines

• C – Science

• D – Nature

• E – Animals

• F – Pets

• G – Making Stuff

• H – Arts

• I -- Sports

• J – Ourselves

• K – Community

• L – USA (Then & Now)

• M – Countries (Then & Now)

• N – Languages

• O – Traditions

• P – Tales

• Q – Verse

• R – Humor

• S – Mystery

• T – Adventure

• U – Scary

• V – Graphic

• W – Memoir

• X – Fiction/Picture Stories

• Y – Beginning Fiction

• Z – Middle Fiction

The System• Categories are each assigned a

letter

• Categories are shelved in alphabetical order by that letter

• Designed to flow between categories

• Each category is divided into subcategories, arranged in alphabetical order by subcategory.

• No author on spine labels

Spines B = MACHINES

B CarsB SnowmobilesB TrainsB Trucks

Catalog

For More InformationIf you have questions about

cost or process of switching to Metis, contact:

Nancy Daigle

Thatcher Brook Primary School

Waterbury, Vermont

(802) 793-2126

ndaigle@wwsu.org

“Dewey Lite”

“Dewey Lite”• Pioneered by Darien Public Library in Darien, CT

• Used in the Birth to Five section of the library

• 10 categories

• Also includes parenting books for adults

• Color coded system

CategoriesCelebrationsRhymes & SongsConceptsFavoritesTransportation

Folk & Fairy TalesGrowing UpStoriesNatureLearning to Read

The System & Spines• Fiction and non-fiction shelved

together in each category

• Picture books labeled with first letter of author’s last name

• Non-fiction books labeled with normal Dewey numbers

• All are given a colored label to designate category

• All books shelved in alphabetical order by letter sticker, with non-fiction following in Dewey number order

BISAC

BISAC• Book Industry Standards and Communications

• System used by bookstores and publishers

• 52 major sections by topic

• BISAC data is searchable in bibliographic databases

Categories

The System• Categories shelved

alphabetically by category title

• Subcategories shelved alphabetically within each section

• History subsections shelved in chronological order

• Spines include author’s last name for ease in finding specific titles

Catalog

For More InformationIf you have questions about

using BISAC or transitioning with the system, contact:

Amanda Perry

Winooski Memorial Library

Winooski, Vermont

(802) 655-6424

aperry@winooskivt.org

@alwperry

Hybrids

Personalizing a System• Keep your population in mind

when deciding on a new system to use

• It’s ok to pick parts of systems that work and mix them together

• Signage is very important in any change

• Spine genre labels can help ease transitions

Our StoryWinooski Memorial Library in Transition

Getting Started• Do your research.

• Think about the space you have to work with, and your budget.

• Understand your library’s whys.

• Weed first. Be ruthless.

• Make a plan.

• Recruit volunteers or prepare your staff for the change.

Our Whys• Patrons only requested books by topic, not by Dewey number

(and very very rarely by author)

• Patrons looking for a bookstore model

• We do not have a dedicated catalog computer, so patrons were forced to ask for general search help from staff or wait for a public access computer to become available

• Children were frustrated by our system and often were browsing alone

• Our population tends to browse rather than look for specific titles

• We wanted categories that reflected the needs of our users

About Our Library• Our collection is about 14,000 volumes

• Our staff has 1 FTE Director, 0.7 FTE Youth Services Librarian, and 0.4 FTE Library Clerk

• Just under 3500 registered patrons (600 youth, 2900 adults)

• We serve a population of 7,500 living in 1.43 square miles

• Annual budget of $153,000

Starting with Picture Books• *All About Me

• Bedtime

• Celebrations

• Concepts

• Fairy Tales/Fables/Songs/Rhymes

• Favorites

• Nature

• Stories

• Transportation

*All About Me

A– All About Me

B – New Baby

C – Community

E – First Experiences

<3 – Family

F – Feelings

-- Friendship

M – Manners

P – Pets

PT – Potty Training

S – School

Catalog Record

Transition Process• 2 days – sorting, labeling, changing catalog records for all

picture books physically in the library

• 4 months – processing returned pictures books as they were brought back

• We kept the library open and serving patrons during the transition with a single staff member

• One volunteer for 6 hours during initial phase.

Cost• Colored labels $53 (most colors $5/roll of 500)

• Spine labels $34.85 (box of 10,000)

• Dedicated staff time to project: 20 hours

The Before….

Day One in Transition

Start of Day Two

Finished!!

Learning to Read

Picture Book Overview• We adapted “Dewey Lite” for our picture books

• All books appropriate for children birth – five are categorized and given a spine label (P First letter of author’s last name) and a colored dot to signify category

• Non-fiction and picture books are interfiled (not fiction first, then non-fiction like Darien)

• We had to break down All About Me into subcategories based on how parents were looking for books

Moving to Youth Collection• Most frequent requests for Sports, Fantasy, “Real Stories”

• Non-fiction had low circulation, was sometimes a challenge to reach all the shelves

• Constrained by shelf space for number of categories possible

• We knew we needed to make a change

Youth Categories

Realistic Fiction History Historical FictionCultures & Traditions Science Making StuffAdventure Mystery AnimalsScary Humor SportsOurselves & Our Community

Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Series

Genre Labels

Catalog Records

Transition Process• 2 days – sorting non-fiction and youth fiction into

categories

• 3 weeks – changing catalog records and making/applying spine labels

• 2 months – deciding on final homes for each section on the shelves

• Project completed during library hours in about an hour a day

Cost• Genre stickers $100 ($7.55/roll of 500)

• Spine labels $34.85 (box of 10,000)

• Dedicated staff time: 45 hours

The Mess

Complete

Youth Section Overview• We combined pieces of “Dewey Lite” and Metis to create a

system that worked for our population

• Some categories created as we went through the collection

• We chose to file biographies within each section rather than pull them all out together

• Has increased our non-fiction circulation

Tackling the Adult Collection• Our patrons for years have

asked for fiction by topic

• Heavily browsed sections

• Decided to adopt a bookstore model for the fiction books

• Categories: Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, General Fiction

Details & Transition• Each book kept it’s regular

label

• We added genre labels

• Classics and Historical Fiction interfiled in General Fiction

• Took about a week to label and move books and update catalog records

Adult Non-Fiction• We use BISAC for the adult

non-fiction collection

• BISAC data is available on each book from our book jobber, but we make final decisions on where books end up

• Much easier for patrons to browse

Details and Transition• Wherever possible, we add

genre labels for consistency across our collections

• Very long transition process, about a year to change all the catalog records and process all books

• All transition work done during library hours around other necessary tasks

Cost• Fiction spine labels $34.85 (box of 10,000)

• Non-fiction spine labels $29 (box of 3,000)

• Genre Labels $7.55/box

What We Learned• Be flexible, and listen to your patrons. What makes sense to you

might not make sense to the people actually using the collection.

• Signs, signs, and more signs!

• Embrace the mess. This process is messy, but it’s totally worth it.

• Be ready to order to fill the holes in your collection.

Signs, Signs,

And More Signs

Be Flexible

Should I Make the Change?Pros• Ease of use

• Happy patrons

• Increased circulation

• Opportunity to clean up catalog errors

• Staff more familiar with collection

Cons• Change is hard

• Staff & Volunteers have to learn a new system

• Can be time-consuming to make the transition

• Volunteers during transition can make the process more difficult

ResourcesDarien Library. (2014, December 14). Darien Library KidLit Reorg. Retrieved from:

http://www.slideshare.net/gcaserotti/darien-library-kidlit-reorg-2719879

Metis: Library Classification for Children. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/metisinnovations/

Colorado State Library in Session. (2014, January 22). Dewey or Don’t We?: Transitioning to a Deweless Library. Retrieved from http://cslinsession.cvlsites.org/past/dewey-or-dont-we/

Nebraska Library Commission. (2014, April 16). NCompass live: Killing Dewey. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR05IOMNUD0

Complete BISAC Subject Headings, 2014 Edition. Retrieved from https://www.bisg.org/complete-bisac-subject-headings-2014-edition

Questions?

Contact InfoJessica Summer, Winooski Memorial Library(802) 655-6424jlsummer@winooskivt.org@ReadingWIthJess