How to Organize Your Personal Library with Dewey Decimal System

If you have over 100 books, you've probably tried to organize them in some way, either by color or topic or size. Why not organize them like libraries do? We'll learn how to organize your books by the Dewey Decimal system (DDC), used in libraries around the country.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• books
• paper
• pen
• labels
• label printer (optional)
• clear packing tape
• internet access

1. Sort your books between fiction and non-fiction.
2. The red eraser points to the Dewey Decimal Number on this pagee Look on the inside of all your non-fiction books. Most will have a copyright page near the front which has copyright information, publishing information, and a little section called “Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data”. This section has all the information you’ll need to sort your book into the proper category.
   A few lines down in this area will be a set of numbers that represents the dewey decimal classification for the book. This book has the number 303.4.
   
   It’s a good idea to put the first one, two, or three letters of the author’s last name on the label as well, like this:
   303.4 D
   This helps if you have many books on the same topic.
3. The spine of the book On your label write or type this number.
   Put the label on the spine of the book about a half-inch from the bottom. Align the label so the type on the label matches the type on the spine of the book. If the spine is too skinny you can put it on the front cover in the bottom left corner.
4. This book was too skinny so the label is on the front corner Cover the label with packing tape so it won’t peel off easily. Do this with every book that you find the information in.
5. Now if you have books that don’t have the information section in them, you have to get a little creative. A) If the book is very similar to another one you have the info on, like two Thai cookbooks, or two books on childbirth, you can just use the same number for both, changing the author initials. B) If it isn’t as similar, you can use an online resource to find the topic of your book in the Dewey Decimal Classification System. That can be found in the resources section of this article. C) One last way to find a number for a book is to search an online library catalog that uses the Dewey Decimal System, see if they have your book, and take the number they’ve used.
6. For your fiction books it’s most likely easier to sort them by the author’s last name. Simply take either the full last name or the first few letters of it, type/write it on the label, and stick the label on the book.
7. One shelf with organized books Once you’ve labeled all your books, it’s time to sort them onto your shelves. You might start out with each shelf or section of shelf getting a group; shelf one for the 100s, shelf two for the 200s, etc. Once you’ve got a handle of how many books and their distribution you can shift them. Pretty soon you’ll have all your shelves organized, and your books will all have a place.

Tips & Warnings

• A card catalog is helpful if you want to search for the book by its title quickly, or to see if you have a particular book. If you sort your card catalog by title, and your shelves by Dewey Decimal System, you will be able to cross-reference them easily.
• This can be addicting. You may find yourself trying to classify your spouse or pets. Beware!