Gwinnett Libraries Closed Til Thursday As Books Reclassified

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - Every branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library system will be closed through Wednesday as staff begin a reclassification project which rethinks how books are organized - doing away with the classic Dewey Decimal System.

The Dewey Decimal Classification system has been used in U.S. libraries since the 1870s when Melvil Dewey developed it and put his name on it. But there is a movement afoot in library branches across the country to move away from the longtime industry standard that many learned as elementary school students.

Officials said the GCPL experience will be more like bookstore browsing when branches reopen Thursday - organizing books alphabetically by topic.

“We looked at our collection and decided instead of organizing everything by numbers, which has been done for over 100 years, we have decided to organize everything by words,” Michael Casey, the library’s director of customer experience, said in a news release.

To further clarify: Instead of memorizing numbers (398.2 for fairytales, for instance), bookhounds will be able to peruse categories like “animals” and “cooking.”

“Words are easier to remember than numbers and many libraries in the country are taking this approach to create a more inviting environment for patrons,” library spokeswoman Dee Driver told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Library patrons can still return books and use online resources during the closures.