I had always wanted to genrefy a school library collection, but was overwhelmed when thinking about the scope of such a large project. Genrefication is the process of moving a library's collection into topic/subject areas, rather than adhering to other traditional organization structures. There are clear benefits to genrefication; namely, a genrefied library makes it easier for students to find the materials they are looking for. Students frequently ask to be pointed in the direction of books about a particular subject or genre. If our goal as school librarians is to get books in the hands of readers, genrefication might be a perfect tool to use!
Instead of beginning by genrefying our large fiction section, I decided to dip my toes in the water by starting first with the biography section. The biography section was organized by last name of the book's subject. If students came in with a specific person they were researching, this organization worked well. However, students usually approached the biography section with a general idea of a
type of person they would like to read about, for instance sports stars, musicians, or authors. A genrefied biography section would allow students to browse the section based on their interests.
Paul Kloster and Christine Tempestoso, the librarians at Orchard Park Middle School, were a great source of knowledge and inspiration during this process. They genrefied their biography section (as well as their fiction section) and were kind enough to share their planning documents and some helpful suggestions. Patty Lebrenz from the Erie 1 BOCES Library Automation Team was instrumental in cataloging help. We spent a full day together updating the biography records in the library catalog!
Before I began the process of genrefication, it was first necessary to weed the biography section. There were 1.039 biography books in our library, and sadly many were outdated or hadn't been checked out in the last ten years. After weeding, there are now 920 biography books available to our students. The books that were removed were outdated or in poor condition. Over the next few orders, I'll be using student suggestions in order to bolster the biography section with books on popular current figures.
Utilizing the suggestions from the Orchard Park librarians, I selected eleven different genres for the biography section. They are:
- Arts (including artists, musicians, composers, actors, designers, entertainers, and architects)
- Authors (including poets)
- Business (including entrepreneurs)
- Explorers (including famous world explorers and modern explorers such as aviators and astronauts)
- Holocaust (including people that lived and played a role during this time in history)
- Notable (a catch-all for interesting lives, memoirs, and current popular figures)
- Presidents (including first ladies and vice presidents)
- Science (including scientists, mathematicians, inventors, and engineers)
- Sports (including athletes and coaches)
- U. S. History
- World History
Placing the books into the appropriate genres required a little legwork. Instead of pulling all of the books from the shelves, I used Follett Destiny to download a spreadsheet of all of the biography books in the library. Utilizing the Destiny catalog, I was able to determine what biography genre to place each title in.
This spreadsheet came in handy when Patty Lebrenz, Erie 1 BOCES library automation expert, came to the library to help with the cataloging. We were able to update all of the biography call numbers to reflect the new biography genres. In Destiny, we also added a location which displayed the book's genre as well.
Once the catalog was updated, new spine labels were created that displayed the book's genre as part of the call number. Unfortunately, the spine label template available through Follett Destiny was not printing the labels as I would have liked them. This meant that I had to create all of the labels from scratch (but I think the end product was worth the extra effort).
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| A sample of the spreadsheet listing the new call number for biography books. |
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| All biography books now display a location in the library catalog. |
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| New spine labels were created from scratch. |
We were now ready to utilize the spreadsheets and updated spine labels to make physical changes to the biography books. Working on one genre section at a time, Mrs. Jensen and Mrs. Martinez pulled all of the biography books and attached all of the new spine labels! This project couldn't have happened without their effort and hard work.
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The biography section was cleared out in order
for the books to receive new spine labels. |
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| The completed World History section, now with new spine labels! |
With the sorting and labeling of books complete, our focus was now on the organization and signage accompanying the revamped biography section. The eleven biography genres would be sorted alphabetically within the biography section. New shelf labels were created, along with new signage to appear on the tops of each shelf. This updated signage should make it more efficient for students to find the biographies they are looking for.
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| Samples of the new shelf dividers to appear in the biography section. |
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| Each biography section now has a sign denoting its genre. |
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| The beginning of the Arts biography section. |
On the morning of May 9th, 2018, the biography genrefication project was officially complete! All of the sorting, signage, and organization finally came together.
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| The newly-renovated biography section. |
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| I anticipate that sports biographies will be very popular! |
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| Each biography section has signage denoting its genre. |
Mr. Frommann's sixth grade reading class was the first group to check out the new biography area. Students seemed to gravitate towards the biography sections of interest to them. Ms. Beauchamp's RtI students are also beginning a biography project today. Hopefully, the new organization of the section will help the students find a book they will enjoy.
I'll be looking closely at the circulation statistics to see if there is a spike in usage associated with our new system. I'm also looking forward to receiving student-requested biographies in our next book shipment!
