Frequently Asked Questions: The Learning Commons

Like bookstores, libraries arrange books into separate subject areas such as History, Art, and Technology. Call numbers are codes comprised of a series of letters and numbers that identify each book’s primary subject and where it is shelved in the library. Most public libraries, arrange books using call numbers from the Dewey Decimal System, but most academic libraries use the Library of Congress Classification system instead. Library of Congress call numbers begin with one or two letters identifying the subject area. Books on Medicine, for instance, have call numbers that start with “R;” books about Education have call numbers beginning with an “L.”
 
At the Hodges Library the first letters of a call number indicate the floor where the book is located: 3rd floor (AC-GF), 4th floor (GN-PR), 5th floor (PS-SK), 6th floor (T-ZA).
 
To get more information about how to find a book, click here.
 
To learn even more about call numbers, visit the Library of Congress' classification outline.