As of the school year 2025/26, we at the Kirkwood's Sundberg Library have been changing over our whole print collection from the Dewey Decimal system to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) system. There are numerous reasons for switching from Dewey to LCC, but the biggest is that nearly all college libraries in the country now use the LCC. The arrangement on the shelves using this scheme is more conducive to research than Dewey. For example, the LCC lists the works by Maya Angelou in the same location. In Dewey her works would appear in separate sections designated for poetry and prose. Moreover, works written about an author and/or their work, will also go in the same location rather than a separate section.
We are working hard to get our books switched over to the new classification system, but it is a very big project, and it will take some time. For this year and the next, we will have some books classified using Dewey and others using LCC. However, books will always be listed in our catalog with the up to date call number, we keep signage on the shelves up to date, and our staff is always happy to help you find the book you are looking for too.
Finding books by subject
The best way to find books on a subject is to search our WorldCat catalog. Enter your keyword or subject term, and limit your search to "print books". Use the call number listed for each relevant book to identify likely places on the shelves where books on your subject will be -- there may be more than one! Once you locate these areas, look around the neighboring shelves to find even more books on your subject.
