Family Valued 8.24.05

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Where's the good stuff?

So, you're standing on the library's threshold with the towhead of your heart beside you. The youngster looks up in dismay and speaks the words that will haunt your childrearing nights: "So, where's the good stuff?"

All Monroe County libraries are organized using the Dewey Decimal system, which arranges non-fiction according to a primary subject tied to a number from 0 to 999. This means that books about automobiles are together under 629 (though race cars are at 796). Hardback fiction has a distinct section; while mysteries, science fiction, short stories, and paperbacks are sometimes shifted to nearby shelves.

Within these sections, books are in alphabetical order by author. Biographies are alphabetized by subject matter (for example, Little Monsters, the Real Story of Pikachu by Kitty Kelley is under "P"). The libraries have a separate area for juvenile books, imitating the adult section with divisions for non-fiction and fiction. Adolescent fiction is usually placed in a Young Adult area.

The trick is to have some sense of what will appeal to your child. Use questions like, "What do you think of when I say the words 'baby pandas'?" or "Have I ever told you about the time Abbott and Costello saved my life?" Once you've defined the good stuff, it's time to turn to:

City Newspaper Handy-Dandy Cheat-Sheet for Finding the Good Stuff in the Library

Good Stuff	Look	Note	Recommended
Animals (baby ducks, moose, ocelots, etc.)	590s	Juvenile books usually have more pictures; animal care is at 636	DK Eyewitness books are cool
Aztecs, Mayas	970 to 973	Some art books may be at 709	by Fiona MacDonald
Board books	Fiction	Look for bucket or some such in J area near toys	Whatever is not too chewed
Books about movies	791	Browse through nearby shelves also; best bet is the Adult section
Camembert cheese	641	Nothing on Camembert in catalog; plenty on cooking	The Star Wars Cookbook by Robin Davis
Comics, graphic novels, cartoons	741	Little in J section, but often special area in YA; also look in Adult where children’s and adult’s mix	"It Was a Dark and Silly Night” edited by Art Spiegelman & Françoise Mouly
Construction vehicles	628, 629		Truck by Donald Crews (picture book)
Crafts	745 to 748	Huge collection downtown	Squashing Flowers, Squeezing Leaves by the editors of Klutz
Dinosaurs	567	Good dino stuff could be in Juvenile or Adult non-fiction	Dinosaurus by Steve Parker
Drawing	741	How-to are mostly in Adult	Ed Emberley's Big Green Drawing Book
Fairy tales	Fiction	Sometimes on own shelves near picture books	The Frog Prince, Continued by Jon Scieszka
Ireland, Mozambique, Vietnam, etc.	900s	Travel, history, and geography organized by continent and country
Knights, armor	623, 940		Knights: Warriors of the Middle Ages by Aileen Weintraub
Mad Magazine, Nintendo Power, Teen People, YM	Periodicals	Mags on fancy shelves on every floor downtown; in each section at branches
Magic tricks	793		Card Magic by Nicholas Einhorn
Myths and legends	291, 398		The Illustrated Book of Myths retold by Neil Philip
Picture books	Fiction	Many shelves in J	Rain Player by David Wisniewski
Pop Characters: Pokemon, Digimon, Scooby Doo	Fiction, 791	Often mixed in with series books	Scooby-Doo!: the Essential Guide by Glenn Dakin
Series Books: Goosebumps, Geronimo Stilton, etc.	Fiction	Look for special area for series books and check in both the Juvenile and YA areas	Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter
Short stories	Fiction	Consider stories that cross all ages: Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen King, Mark Twain, and Flannery O'Connor	Curses, Inc. and Other Stories by Vivian Vande Velde
Sports: Minnesota Twins, Soccer, etc.	796	Specific athletes may be in biography section
Science: Why is there air?	001, 500s	Browse through 500s, starting in J section	Popular Science Almanac for Kids
Videogame guides	Periodicals	Some branches even have games	Fairport receives Tips & Tricks
Zombies, vampires, mummies	001, 028, 398		A Natural History of the Unnatural World by Joel Levy