Have you ever noticed that we arrange things a little differently from other libraries? At Palmerston North City Library, we want to make browsing as easy and intuitive as possible – but with so many thousands of books on the shelves, how do you do this?
Most public libraries in New Zealand arrange their fiction collections from A-Z and their non-fiction by the Dewey Decimal System from 000 to 999. This means that Anne McCaffrey, Cormac McCarthy and Andy McDermott are rubbing shoulders, while Paddy Gower’s autobiography (070.444 GOW) is on the other side of the room from the Ralph Hotere biography (759.993 HOT).
Here, we’ve tried to make it easier for you to discover your next favourite book by grouping our collections into ‘Living Rooms’ – crime and thriller novels are separated from science fiction and fantasy, for example, while a philosophy book about animal intelligence is grouped with other ‘Animals’. Remember to check a book’s ‘Shelf Location’ on our catalogue, and look out for the Living Room signage on our shelving.
As ever, you are welcome to ask one of our friendly Library team for help navigating our collections.
