THOMAS – For years, selecting a non-fiction book in a school, college or public library put patrons to the test – trying to find that book through the Dewey Decimal cataloging system was intimidating. Mountain Top Library in Thomas has broken free from the traditional system and is working with a new way to file books – called the bookstore model – in an effort to make finding a book easier, and more logical, for its readers.
“The non-fiction books used to be classified by the Dewey Decimal System,” Librarian Ivonne Martinez said. “One of the things I found in reading new library trends is filing non-fiction books using the subject system.”
Martinez said the Mountain Top Library has a small collection of non-fiction books, and utilizing the bookstore model would lend itself well – and the filing could be changed to fit the needs of the readers best.
“We have broken United States history into centuries,” Martinez said. “It makes it much easier.”
Martinez said she has stickers on the books – yellow is for juvenile, purple is for young adult and those that are not marked are for adults.
“Instead of during our holiday books by author, they are arranged in order the seasons come in the year,” Martinez stated. “We begin with the New Year and end up with Christmas.”
She said the nature books are in order of subject.
“We begin with ants, then cats, then dogs and so forth,” she said. “Between the Dewey Decimal system and this, this is much easier to find the books folks are looking for. Kids would come to look for books and look at the numbers from the Dewey Decimal system and wonder what it was. They wanted a book about hunting or something, and this filing system makes our books more visible and it makes it easier for people to find the information they are looking for.”
Martinez said she wants the library experience to be an easy thing.
“We want to come here and know what we have,” Martinez stated. “We hope folks will stop by and use our services. We have books and videos, and offer public access computers.”
The Dewey Decimal System was created by Melvil Dewey in 1876 and used 10 classes, 10 divisions and 10 sections to catalog non-fiction books.
The Mountain Top Library is located at 384 Second St. in Thomas and has a yearly circulation of approximately 6,546. The library is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Additional Information about Mountain Top Library is available by calling 304-463-4582.
