Home >Ask a Librarian >>How to >> Dewey

Dewey Decimal Guide

What's Dewey Decimal?

It's a system for organizing books invented by Melvil Dewey!

How does it work?

Each item gets numbers, letters or both numbers and letters that tell us what subject it belongs in. Items are sorted on the library shelves according to those numbers and letters. It's like an address that tells you where library items live.

So when you look up a book, tape or movie on the computer, or ask a librarian for help, you'll find out the numbers and/or letters that go with the item you want. Then you just have to find where in the library that number lives. This makes it easy to find what you need!

Here's a quick guide to some popular subjects and the numbers they go with:

Airplanes j629.13	Anatomy j611, j612	Ancient History j930	Animals j590
Astronomy j520	Ballet j792.8	Bible Stories j220	Biographies j920
Birds j598	Careers j371.42	Cars j629.2	Cartoons j741.5
Castles j940.1	Chemistry j540	Children's Literature Resources j028.5	Circus j791.4
Codes and Secret Writing j001.5436, j652	Colorado j917.88, j978.8	Computers j001.64, j621.381	Cooking j641
Costume j391, j646	Crafts j745.5	Dictionaries j423	Dinosaurs j567.91
Divorce j301.4284, j306.87	Drawing j740, j741, j743	Drug Abuse j613.83	Earthquakes j551.2
Endangered Species j333.954	Exercise j613.7	Explorers j910.9, j973.1	Fairy Tales j398
Feelings j158	Firefighters j363.3, j628.925	Flags j929.9	Foreign Languages j430-j490
Games j790	Geography j910-j919	Ghosts j133.1	Holidays j394.26
Hospitals j362.1	Humor j817	Insects j595.7	Jokes and Riddles j398.6, j793.8, j817
Kites j796.15	Magic j791.42, j793.8	Maps and Atlases j912	Martial Arts j796.815
Math j510, j513 For Teachers: j372.7	Monsters j001.944	Movies j791	Music j781.91
Mythology j290-j293	Native Americans j970	Nursery Rhymes j398.8	Nutrition j641.1
Parties j793	Pets j636	Pirates j910.4	Planets j523.4
Plants j580-j582	Plays j812 Shakespeare: j822.3	Poetry American: j811 British: j821 Asian: 895 Native American: 897 Poetry Collections: j808.1	Police Officers j363.2
Presidents j923.1, j973	Railroads j385, j625.19	Religions j230-j299	Rocks and Minerals j550
Saints j922	Science Experiments j500, j600	Science Projects j507.8	Sexuality j612.6
Sharks j597.31	Sign Language j419	Snakes j597.96, j639.36	Song Books j782
Space Flight j629.4	Sports j796	Trees j582	Trucks j629.224
Unidentified flying Objects (UFOs) j001.942	United States History: j973 Travel: j917	Volcanoes j551.2	Weather j551.5
Whales and Dolphins j599.5	Witchcraft j133.4	World Records j032	World War I and II j940.3-j940.542

For a bigger Dewey's Guide click here.

Visit the Think Quest Dewey Decimal site for more information and history about Dewey!