Social Studies 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

These are Dewey call numbers that are related to both social studies and education. 

To learn more about Dewey numbers, please visit this guide. 

300 • Social sciences, sociology, and anthropology

310 • Statistics

320 • Political sciences

330 • Economics

340 • Law

350 • Public administration and military science

360 • Social problems and social sciences

370 • Education

380 • Commerce, communications, and transportation

390 • Customs, etiquette, and folklore

900 • History

910 • Geography and travel

920 • Biography and genealogy

930 • History of ancient world (to 499 CE)

940 • History of Europe

950 • History of Asia

960 • History of Africa

970 • History of North America

980 • History of South America

990 • History of other areas

370 • Education

371 • Schools and their activities and special education

372 • Primary education (elementary education)

373 • Secondary education

374 • Adult education

375 • Curricula

378 • Higher education

379 • Public policy issues in education