The Dewey Decimal System

Miss Ballistreri

Bellmawr Park

E.M. Burke

Purpose The purpose of the

Dewey Decimal System is to group books together that are on the same subject. This allows the library to stay organized and helps patrons find books in the correct location.

Who is Dewey? Melvil Dewey lived

from 1851 to 1931. He was a librarian. He decided to group

books together based on their subject.

His system is still used today around the world!

10 General Groups The Dewey Decimal

system divides the non-fiction books into 10 broad groups.

Lots of subjects fit into each of the 10 groups. For example, sports

and music are in the same group.

Dewey Groupings 000-099 General

Knowledge 100-199 Psychology &

Philosophy 200-299 Religion &

Mythology 300-399 Social Sciences 400-499 Languages

500-599 Math & Science 600-699 Medicine and

Technology 700-799 Arts &

Recreation 800-899 Literature 900-999 Geography &

History

000-099 General Knowledge Books that fit into

this group: Have many

different subjects in them (like World Record Books or Encyclopedias).

Are on unexplained subjects (like The Loch Ness Monster).

100-199 Psychology & Philosophy Books in this section

tell about how we think and feel. Feelings Making Friends Superstitions Ethics

200-299 Religion & Mythology Books in this group

tell about different religions (Christianity, Buddhism, Judiasm, etc.) and ancient mythology.

300-399 Social Sciences Books in this group

tell us about society (how people live together). Holidays Customs Government Manners Fairy Tales

400-499 Languages All World Languages

Sign Language

Dictionaries

500-599 Math & Science Animals

Dinosaurs

Geology

Insects

Planets & Stars

600-699 Medicine and Technology Health Human BodyThings that are man-made:

Computers Cookbooks Inventions Pets Automobiles

700-799 Arts & Recreation Architecture Arts & Crafts Drawing Music Sports

800-899 Literature Books in this section

are stories, plays, or poetry.

This section was originally for all fiction books but there were too many to fit.

900-999 Geography & History Countries

Native Americans

States

Travel

Wars

Things to Remember…. Non-fiction call

numbers are in numerical order (whereas fiction call numbers are in alphabetical order).

Books about the same subject are always near each other on the shelves.

Dewey Call Numbers Non-fiction books are

grouped by numbers (for the subject) and the first three letters of the author’s last name. For example:

784.19 KAL is a music book by Bobbie Kalman

To Review… Non-fiction call

numbers look like: 509 ABA 598 GAB 613 ZOE 901 FRE 001 BON 675 REC

Fiction call numbers look like: FIC TRE FIC POE FIC LIO FIC BAL FIC FIS FIC CHE