Mathematics Education (PreK-12): Reading CRC Call Numbers

A fiction call number begins with a locator tool (JUV, CURR) and is immediately followed by a letter (A-Z).

This letter tells you the first letter of the author's last name. A book with the call number JUV V4614br will be in the fiction section, particularly with all the V books because it's written by Padma Venkatraman.

The last two letters of the fiction call number are the first two letters of the book's title. Titles by the same author are always in alphabetical order. In the above example, br stands for The Bridge Home.

Often a copyright year will append the call number.

A biography call number begins with a locator tool (JUV, CURR) and is immediately followed by the number 92 or 920.

• 92s are biographies about a single person (e.g., Frederick Douglass). The 92 will be followed by the last name of the person who the biography is about. JUV 92 Simone is a biography about Nina Simone. 
• 920s are collective biographies about two or more people (e.g., Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln; The Beatles; social justice activists). The 920 will be followed by the last name of the author who wrote the biography. JUV 920 Pinkney is a collective biography by Andrea Davis Pinkney. If the subjects of the collective biography share a last name, the 920 will be followed by that last name. JUV 920 Darwin is a collective biography about Charles & Emma Darwin. 

 Often a copyright year will append the call number.

A nonfiction call number begins with a locator tool (JUV, CURR) and is immediately followed by a Dewey number.

The Dewey number is followed by a combination of letters and numbers, which indicate the author's last name and the title of the book. JUV 782.42164 W3632ro is a nonfiction book (782.42164) written by Carole Boston Weatherford (W3623) titled The Roots of Rap (ro).

Often a copyright year will append the call number.

The Ten Main Classes of Dewey

000 • Computer science, general works, and information

100 • Philosophy and psychology 

200 • Religion

300 • Social sciences

400 • Language

500 • Science

600 • Technology

700 • Arts and recreation

800 • Literature

900 • History and geography