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Morning Open Thread. Dewey Decimal System Day (USA). Yes, libraries are still relevant. [1]

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Date: 2022-12-10

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of a Library." --Jorge Luis Borges

"The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library." Albert Einstein

Morning Open Thread is a daily, copyrighted post from a host of editors and guest writers. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum. This is a post where you can come to share what’s on your mind and stay for the expansion. The diarist is on California time and gets to take a nap when he needs to, or may just wander off and show up again later. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug. Grab your supportive indulgence(s) of choice and join us, please. And if you’re brand new to Morning Open Thread, then Hail and Well Met, new Friend.

When I find myself with no particular idea for a MOT theme, I’ll often go to There is a Day for That! to see if the Saturday I’m writing the MOT for has any significant event on that date. Such was the case for today’s diary.

So, today, December 10, is celebrated by anachronistic old geezers like me (I still read books made of paper and ink) because

Melvil Dewey, the creator of the famed Dewey Decimal System which classifies mostly non-fiction library books and resources, was born on December 10, 1851, in New York and this date has been adopted to celebrate and honor him annually for Dewey Decimal System Day. Dewey created his proprietary system of library resource classification while working at the Amherst College library at the age of 21. The Dewey Decimal System was first published in 1876 and is now the most widely used system around the world in over 200,000 libraries in 135 countries. The 20th edition of the system had been published by the late 20th century. --National Today

I know I’ve mentioned how much I still enjoy going to my local public library and checking out books. I confess I’ve never tried anything like a Kindle reader, but it doesn’t seem right for me. Books are what I’m used to and what I’m sticking with.

"To ask why we need libraries at all, when there is so much information available elsewhere, is about as sensible as asking if roadmaps are necessary now that there are so very many roads." Jon Bing



(1944-2014. Norwegian writer and law professor at the Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law)

I actually do use the card catalog, on a library computer these days, but way back “in the day” yeah, I used those tiny drawers and cards and knew how to find non-fiction books (like for a school writing assignment). I often have a title or author, non-fiction, that I want to look up and the only way to find it is by using the Dewey system and then going to the corresponding location in the library.

It’s mighty handy having my library within easy bicycle distance, even walking distance for when the weather’s snowy and icy, like it is outside even as I type these words.

I just checked this book out from the library (it’s a ZIP book I ordered for the library; I haven’t even started reading it yet. I’m reading a fiction book first).

And there you see its Dewey Decimal Number; 522.1974. Easy-peasy.

Fiction, of course, is not in the Dewey system, with perhaps a few exceptions. In the library, fiction books (novels, mysteries, fantasy, “junk” reading, etc.) are in a separate section, usually aggregated by class and then arranged on the shelves alphabetically by author’s last name, with multiple titles by the author arranged alphabetically also. When I’m after fiction I often just simply browse the shelves and pick one out because the title or cover appeals to me. I usually read the jacket blurb too, just to make sure it’s not a story I know I won’t care for. There’s plenty of those kinds of stories for me, but I won’t get into them.

So, thanks, Melvil. Ya done good.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/10/2139154/-Morning-Open-Thread-Dewey-Decimal-System-Day-USA-Yes-libraries-are-still-relevant

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