Nuts and Bolts

Sorry for the delay in this next post. It’s Book Fair week. ‘Nuff said…

Now it’s on to the ‘how’ portion of genre shelving in my library. I did this in numerous steps, but I’ll try to simplify it.

1. I ran a shelf list of all of my fiction titles. Beside each title, I put the abbreviation for it’s genre designation. If I didn’t know about the book, I quickly looked up a description of the book. I realized that changes could be made, but this was a start. This rough count helped me with my genre sticker order. I spent roughly $200 for stickers and label protectors. I have plenty that should last quite awhile (3+ years)

2. After designating each book to a genre, I began clearing shelf space for my first genre. Note to self…wear comfy clothes!! I counted this portion of genrfy-ing as my workout routine. It took a couple of days in between other tasks. If I could have worked on it steadily without interruptions, I might’ve gotten it done in one day.

3. Now it was on to the time-consuming task of putting the labels on the books and adding the abbreviation to the catalog. After looking in various library supply magazines, I chose to go with Demco. They had the best selection for my needs. The only genre they didn’t have that suited my taste was Traditional Literature. I bought blank labels that matched the size of the others and made my own stickers. I purchased label protectors from Demco. The following pictures show the placement of the genre labels on the bottom right-hand corner on the back of the book, the roll of labels, and the type of protectors. I cut each protector label in half…it still left a nice edge around the genre label.

            

                           

4. My last task was to update my catalog. I use Follett Destiny. The process was time-consuming, yet it was easy to do. I simply put the genre’s abbreviation in front of the call number. I decided not to change the spine labels (choose your battles!) For the book in the above picture, the call number was originally FIC SCO. I simply changed it to F FIC SCO in the catalog. The students and staff caught on quickly to the abbreviations in the catalog.

That’s it. I’ve switched a few books over this school year, but it’s been a breeze. I feel it was well worth my time and efforts to rearrange my fiction section. I can surely look at the increase in my circulation statistics and assure myself of the the benefits. Time well spent…

Currently reading: Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card