Genrefying Fiction, Part 1 (the prequel)!

Discussion on the Iowa School Librarian SLIK-12 Listserve I follow and conferences I attend continue to talk about setting up a school library like a bookstore....where books are categorized by genre or categories rather than Dewey Classification. Lots of opinions out there and the one that makes the most sense to me is to do what makes the best sense for my students. I know from my Library Science Master's Thesis long, long ago (longer than I am willing to admit to publicly) ANY "call to attention" for a book helps it be found by students and boosts circulation; and display that assists students in finding books helps them be successful  and independent in the library. Even just setting a book from the bottom shelf to display on the top of the shelves helps. Face-forward display helps. Labeling with a sticker helps. Most importantly, I hear from those that have made this change, students are more able to find books on their OWN!

I recently attended the IASL 2015 conference and hearing Jennifer LaGarde (Keynote Speaker) talk about Genre-fying sealed my decision. Anything that helps kids find books more easily is WINNING! Thanks Library Girl for the boost! Plus, the fiction section has historically been pulled out of Dewey's 813 (and no one seems bothered by that).

I know from experience and research that some students will use the OPAC (online public access catalog) readily to find books. This change won't affect they way they find books. All the books will still be in the catalog, the sublocation field will indicate where in the library the book is, and a color-coded label on the spine will help identify it. But some students prefer to walk along the shelves and look at titles, covers, and are the ones that often ask "where can I find a book with a sports theme?" Except for a few authors, students usually ask for books by genre. These are the students I hope to reach. They (for whatever reason) don't want to use OPAC even though we use it extensively for research and finding nonfiction books. I get that--I like to browse the shelves as well, it's fun to visit a large book store and just look at the covers. It's the browsers I hope to help better find the books they are looking for. I'll still teach classification; I'll still teach keyword searching in OPAC; I'll still teach kids that books are shelved in an order. Can't give that up--it's such a GREAT way to teach search skills that students will later use life-long: for databases, the Internet, college libraries, public libraries. I do agree with the literature: it's better to teach classification; just not the particular system.

What about nonfiction, you ask? Going to leave that in Dewey order. Lots of advice out there about "ditching Dewey" but that seems like a step back. I feel the categories in Dewey work just fine; the books are already in groupings. And when the Animal books are in two different Dewey locations, I exert local authority and classify them together (where my students will look for them).

Goals:

1. Make fiction books easier for students to find independently by classifying them by genre. High school students are usually in a hurry to find a book, they don't have time to leisurely browse. More often, they end up just grabbing a book that doesn't interest them because they are out of time. And some (OK many) teens are reluctant to ask for help. I'll still offer help (it's my favorite part of my job) and it allows me to talk with students about books.
2. More easily identify genres that are low in numbers. When the books are arranged alphabetically, I can't really see if we are heavy in one genre or lacking in another.
3. Help spread out the browsing when entire classes visit the library. Lessen crowding in the shelves.

I've already started this process.  Graphic Novels and Foreign Language titles are already in their own section, labeled with a sticker, and designated as a sublocation in our library catalog. Looking at a collection of more than 6000 fiction titles I can honestly say it looks to be a daunting task. More daunting is the moving of all the titles in to sections.

I've researched BISAC classifications, asked my Iowa colleagues that have already Genre-fied their libraries, attended break-out sessions at conferences, dug out that Master's Thesis I wrote so long ago, etc. for over two years. I'm finally ready to take the plunge. Here's my plan:

1. Weed! We currently have about 6000 fiction books. I'll pull for condition first, then age (avoiding classics). I'll ignore circulation statistics for now because I fear one reason they aren't circulating is because students can't find them!
2. Start identifying fiction books in these categories (these are the most asked for by students) and label them with a tinted label protector. No books will be moved at this stage, just starting to identify genres.  New orders will be labeled before they even hit the shelves, and I'll slowly go through books on the shelves to categorize them. I'll make sure the genre is in the MARC record.
• Science Fiction (dystopia, futuristic, robots, space)
• Fantasy (dragons, witches, fairies, Middle Earth)
• Horror/Thrillers (Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves)
• Sports
• Historical Fiction (Westerns)
• Realistic Fiction (no sticker for now)
3. Connect with my teachers to determine "common" genres in their teaching (consistency).
4. Create signage to help students know what the colored labels mean.
5. I'll come in over the summer to rearrange the sections above, and I plan to keep similar genres close. All books will be scanned into our cataloging system with a sublocation, I won't change spine labels (that will save time and the expense of printing new labels).
6. Because I'm not sure how far to categorize Realistic Fiction....that's going to be last.  I fear this is going to be a huge section, but I am not sure how far to go. These subcategories might include:
• Action & Adventure (Crime)
• Romance/Relationships
• Urban
• LGBT
• Mystery/Suspense
• Humor
• War & Military
• and more?
7. Not looking forward to those books that hit multiple sections....but as my colleagues have indicated, pick the one that makes the most sense for my students. In fact, I think I'll ask my students!
8. Maybe one day all the books will be boxed up for some reason, then we can shelve according to the stickers!  Voila, Genre-fyied!

I'll post our progress. Colored label protectors were ordered TODAY! Here we go!

Some of the advice I've followed....
http://www.librarygirl.net/2013/12/five-more-conversations-about-school.html
http://liberrygurl.blogspot.com/2012_11_01_archive.html

http://www.readerpants.net/2011/09/genre-fication-project.html

https://christyminton.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/genrefying-a-high-school-library-a-detailed-planning-document/
https://www.bisg.org/complete-bisac-subject-headings-2014-edition