Biographies in the Library

Do you know how to find our biographies?  It's really simple. This week a few 4th and 5th grade classes came into the library and browsed through several biographies.  In groups they discussed what all of the biographies have in common.  Naturally, they explained that biographies are books written about important figures in the past and/or present.  They identified the table of contents and some students even found timelines in the biographies.  All of these features can help anyone research important figures, but just as important is knowing where biographies can be found in the library.

Students learned that the call number on the spine labels of our biography books all start with the capital B.  It is then followed by the last name of the person the biography is about.  Since our books are in alphabetical order on the shelves it should be really easy to find what you are looking for.  All of our biographies are shelved together, just look for the BIOGRAPHIES sign.

If you are interested in seeing what we have on our catalog just click on the OPAC link above and click on Resource List under the Catalog tab.

Have You Met Dewey?

Class 5-2 and 5-3 have learned how the non-fiction section of the library is organized.  They now know that Melvile Dewey created the Dewey Decimal System many years ago in order to organize non-fiction books by a subject's category.   All non-fiction books are separated into 10 different categories, making it easier for students to locate non-fiction books for their research projects.  However, they should not forget how important the call number of books can be as well.  After using the OPAC to search for specific books in our library students can now pinpoint the category and reduce the amount of time spent searching the shelves.

If you come to the library just look for the signs that will help you identify each of the categories listed below:

000-099     General Works
100-199     Philosophy and Psycology
200-299     Regilion and Mythology
300-399     Social Sciences 
400-499     Languages
500-599     Natural Science
600-699     Applied Science
700-799     Arts and Recreation
800-899     Literature
900-999     Geography and History

Call Numbers

Did you know every book has it's own address?  That's right...every single book in a library has a special place where it lives while it waits for an interested person to check it out.  The CALL NUMBER is the key.  This week, 4th and 5th grade students completed the "Drag and Drop the Call Number" activity using the Smartboard.  Students were required to come to the Smartboard  to drag and drop sets of call numbers to the proper section of the library drawn on the board.  Afterwards, they had to explain that the first section of the call number represents the section of the library and the second part of the call number represents the first 3 letters of the author's last name.  It was a great way for students to show they understand how the call number can help them find the books on the shelves.