[CALIBK12] [SPAM?] Re: Dewey-Less Library

Thu Sep 13 09:30:36 PDT 2007

Here, Here!!  Another aspect of society and education dumbing down education for the ease of the masses-we wouldn't want them to overdo or think.  That leaves more time for texting and talking on their cell phones while driving or eating in restaurants!  Well put, Megan!!

John McVey
Library Technician
North School, K-8 YRE
Tracy, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu [mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Megan Fuller
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2007 7:10 AM
To: trosas at ovsd.org; calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu
Subject: [SPAM?] Re: [CALIBK12] Dewey-Less Library

Ah yes, Easy...I always find it so easy to locate what I am looking for at my local Borders.  The friendly bookstore staff are easy to find, and know exactly where the item I am looking for is shelved.  They have such a wide selection too, one whole shelving unit devoted to teen fiction!  I will admit the coffee is good, and they don't seem to care when I get jelly from my donut on pages of the book I pulled off the shelf.

What in the world is all this ruckus about EASY?  We are human beings capable of inventing incredible devises, brilliant pieces of art, calculating equations that boggle the mind and yet we can't teach students the Dewey Decimal System? Please.

I think the most telling statement in that article is when Miele says, "To be honest, I'm not sure these freshmen and sophomores really encountered Dewey before, so we haven't had any comments,".  Just where did these students go to Elementary, Middle School and High School?  Why weren't they in the library?  What do those highly qualified library media teachers teach in Arizona?

Megan Fuller
Aptos Junior High
http://www.aptosjr.pvusd.net/library/

Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing.
-- Wernher von Braun
________________________________
From: "Terrie Rosas" <trosas at ovsd.org>
To: <calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu>
Subject: [CALIBK12] Dewey-Less Library
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:40:14 -0700
>The saga of the Dewey-less, dual use library continues! And, no, they did not switch to the LC cataloging system.
>
>http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6477763.html
>
>In case the link above does not work for you, the latest installment is reprinted below for your convenience.
>
>Here is an earlier account of reactions from a few librarians:
>
>http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6449104.html?q=maricopa+and+dewey
>
>Long, long ago when our District Library/Media Center was established, somebody (I suspect not a librarian) organized the collection by subject. The media collection and book collection were kept in separate buildings until the 1990 move into our current location. We have a small professional library collection that is cataloged by Dewey and I am in the process of cataloging our entire collection by Dewey.
>
>In my experience, the subject system works adequately - until you receive a new book of California Indian folklore, for example, and you aren't sure whether to shelve it under California, Indians or Folklore and Fairy Tales. If the library professionals who manage subject-cataloged collections are confused, how do you think the patrons feel?
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Students Not Fazed by Dewey-less Library in Arizona
>
>This article originally appeared in SLJ's Extra Helping.
>Debra Lau-Whelan -- School Library Journal, 9/11/2007 2:00:00 PM
>
>If you're wondering how students are responding to the Dewey-less library in Gilbert, AZ, now that everyone's back at school, there's not much to say because no one really notices.
>
>"Students don't seem to care or know the difference," says Jennifer Miele, manager of the Perry Branch Library, part of the Maricopa County Library District in Arizona, which decided to ditch Dewey when it opened its doors last June.
>
>Librarians across the country were up in arms about the new library adopting a bookstore-like shelving system . And they were equally concerned about how the kids at Perry High School, which uses the public library as its media center, would react to the change.
>
>But so far, there have been no complaints. "To be honest, I'm not sure these freshmen and sophomores really encountered Dewey before, so we haven't had any comments," says Miele.
>
>Although school officially started on July 23, Allison Burke, who has the dual role of media specialist and young adult librarian, just began giving library orientation this week. Although Burke points out the library's new system of shelving its entire 31,000-item collection by topic and alphabetizing by authors' last names, the kids are more interested in the fact that the library allows food and drinks and that it has its own semi-private Teen Oasis section, equipped with red and purple velvet lounge chairs and lots of computers. "It's a whole new world to them," Miele adds.
>
>Getting rid of Dewey was a bold but much-needed step to make the library as "customer-service friendly as possible" and to attract more kids and the 20- to 40-year-old crowd, explained Marshall Shore, the library system's coordinator for adult services.
>
>The library is certainly drawing in more teens. "Every week we see more high school kids," says Miele, adding that they're taking advantage of after-school programs and that the library is open at 7:30 a.m. for students.
>
>Miele does admit, however, that getting rid of Dewey was easier for her 28,000-square-foot library because it's smaller than most. She also says that it may be too early to tell if more complaints will start piling up once research project season gets in full gear. But for now, students really enjoy browsing the easy-to-read signage and low bookshelves.
>
>And that leaves library staffers more time to ponder other brave initiatives that students are leaving in the suggestion box*like having music piped in throughout the whole library, Miele says.
>
>(c) 2007, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
>
>
>Terrie Rosas
>Library/Instructional Materials Technician
>
>Ocean View School District (K-8)
>Library/Media Center, Building E
>17200 Pinehurst Lane
>Huntington Beach, CA 92647
>
>Phone (714) 847-2551 x1104
>trosas at ovsd.org
>Fax (714) 847-8071
>
>"Here is where people,
> One frequently finds,
> Lower their voices
> And raise their minds."
>- Richard Armour, "Library"
>
>
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