St. Anthony School Library

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲:
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦? 🧐

Ever wonder how we keep thousands of books organized so you can find exactly what you're looking for? Say hello to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system!

The DDC is the most widely used library classification system in the world. It was developed by Melvil Dewey in 1876 and uses a combination of numbers to organize the entire world of knowledge into ten main classes.

Whole numbers (like 500, 796, or 973) represent the major subject area.

Decimals (like .1, .24, or .9) are used to narrow down the subject into much more specific topics.

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙄𝙩 𝙊𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣?
DDC makes it possible to keep books on the same subject together on the shelf, no matter who the author is or when the book was published.

The call number you see on the spine of a book—the DDC number plus the author's code—is like the book's address. It tells you exactly where to find it on our shelves!

Next time you visit, take a moment to appreciate the organizational power of the DDC!