Where is this Book in the Library?

This book is on the 3rd Floor.

The call number is PR1309 .V36 V36 2024.

PR is the section where you can find the book. Look for letters on the ends of the bookcases.

PR1309 is a specific group of books shelved together.

PR1309 .V36 V36 2024 is the specific book - shelved in alphabetical and numerical order - on the shelf. 

Looking for a book but aren't sure where to start? 

Once you find the book in the library's catalog, look next to where the item says "Available" to see which floor it's on and the Call Number. Our example below is on the third floor. The string of letters and numbers after is the Call Number.

The Call Number is like map coordinates to where the book is shelved. 

The Call Number we are looking for is: 

PR1309 .V36 V36 2024 

To start, let's break this up into sections to help us find the right range (row of shelves), shelf, and place on the shelf. 

PR 1309      .V36       V36 2024

The first part is going to give us the range to look for. We'll start with the letters, PR. We know this book is on the third floor, so we'll pick a range and look at the triangle shaped sign on one end of it, which should have one to three letters and a short description below. It should look like this:

Once we found the right section, we can start looking at the flat signs on the side of the range. These show us which Call Numbers are shelved on that range. Look for the sign that has numbers that include PR 1309 between them, like this:

1309 falls between the numbers 1175 and 2047, so this is our range. 

Once you find the right range, start looking on the shelves.

The books are in numerical order if you read the number before the decimal as a whole number, ex: PR1309 comes before PR1426.

Next is alphabetical by the letter after the decimal.

Then numerical again, but this time read the number digit by digit, ex: .V37 comes after .V365.

Repeat for the next letter and number set.

Lastly, books are in order by year if they have one. If there are too versions of the same book, like 2020 and 2024, the 2020 version will be first.

There's our book!

Now to take it to the Service Desk on the Second Floor and check it out!