Find a Book

Once you have found books in the OWHL catalog you will need to go the Stacks with the book’s “call number.”  Tip: check the book’s record in the OWHL catalog, and you will find a button that allows you to send the call number to your phone as a text message.

Books are arranged at the OWHL using the Dewey Decimal classification system which uses ranges of numbers to represent different subject areas and topics.  Each item in the library is assigned a number or a combination of numbers and letters that indicate where it is located in the library.

Here is a list of the general topics covered in each number range in Dewey:

000 Generalities
100 Philosophy & psychology
200 Religion
300 Social sciences
400 Language
500 Natural sciences & mathematics
600 Technology (Applied sciences)
700 The arts
800 Literature & rhetoric
900 Geography & history

Here’s an example of how it works:

In the Dewey system, books on social science generally have call numbers beginning with 150-159.

The book, Dreaming: an Introduction to the Science of Sleep, by J. Allan Hobson would have a call number such as:

154.63 H65D 

154 means the book is about the subconscious
.63 means it is focused on sleep phenomenon
H65D is the "code" for J. Allan Hobson

If you went to the 154 section of the library and browsed the area, you would find other books on dreams, interpretation of dreams, sleepwalking, etc. Many people find they like to go to the section of the book they want to see what other books on that subject are available. 

Where are the books located in the OWHL?

Books are shelved throughout the building.

In the middle of the library building are four floors of blue shelves called “the stacks.”  The stacks are where most of our books and other library materials are housed. 

The stacks are labeled 1 through 4, or S1 for stack level one, S2 for stack level two, S3, and S4.  Stack level one is in the basement of the library building, S2 is on the main floor, S3 is between the main floor and the second floor, and S4 is on the second floor. 

There are also books shelved in the basement, the second floor of the main library building, the Garver Room on the main floor, and in the Freeman Room.

The Dewey numbers associated with each of the shelving areas are as follows:

001-299.999 – Second Floor of main library building

300- 599.99 – S4

600-822.999 – S3

823-999.99 – S1

Fiction - S2

REF - S2 and Garver Room

There are maps located near the entrances to the stacks, but if you ever have a question about where something is, don’t be shy!  Ask a librarian!