[Michlib-l] Shelving Adult Fiction by genre, or not

[Deb Hemmye]

But that's assuming bookstore shoppers are the same as library users. Of course there is overlap, but I will posit that, since there is no money involved, library users can, and do, browse more broadly. When I go to B & N, I'm either going for a specific title, or to browse a specific section. At our library, I see many people browsing almost our entire (albeit small) fiction section. Ditto for non-fiction. I think people are much more open to reading outside their normal genres when it's not going to cost them $25 to try something new. Anyway, I've already said I'm a genre-hater, so take all of this with a grain of salt. :) 

Deb Hemmye 
Library Director 
Huntington Woods Public Library 
26415 Scotia Road 
Huntington Woods, MI 48070 
248-543-9720, ext. 686 



From: "Deb Hemmye" <dhemmye at hwoodslib.org> 
To: "Lisa Craig" <craigl at cantonpl.org> 
Cc: "Michlib" <michlib-l at mcls.org> 
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2024 11:48:30 AM 
Subject: Re: [Michlib-l] Shelving Adult Fiction by genre, or not 

We just have one big fiction section. However, in my previous library we had many genre sections and I was continually told by an angry patron, "I can't believe you don't have Louis L'Amour" and I would have to explain that his books are in our Western section. I also had sci-fi lovers who were miffed that their books were mixed in with fantasy. When checking for a book that is supposed to be on the shelf, but isn't, there are seemingly thousands of places it could be - any of the multitude of fiction genres, any of the multitude of large print fiction genres, or in the JFIC section. To me, the more genre separations you have, the more confusing your collection is. Maybe mysteries, but beyond that, you're just confusing people. 
Especially if you're a big library and the geographical separation is significant. Stick with stickers. Just my two cents. ;) 

Deb Hemmye 
Library Director 
Huntington Woods Public Library 
26415 Scotia Road 
Huntington Woods, MI 48070 
248-543-9720, ext. 686 



From: "Michlib" <michlib-l at mcls.org> 
To: "Michlib" <michlib-l at mcls.org> 
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2024 10:36:48 AM 
Subject: [Michlib-l] Shelving Adult Fiction by genre, or not 



Good Morning, 

For a long time we have grouped our Adult Fiction books into several major genre areas: General Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction and Westerns. As genres become blurrier and authors move between genres more freely, we are considering combining these genre areas into one large Fiction Area. However, we also believe that many patrons appreciate being able to browse their preferred genre, so enjoy the area as it is configured now. 



If you have either consolidated fiction or separated it into genres, how did it go for you? In particular, how did your patrons respond? 



Lisa Craig 

Collection Development Specialist 

Canton Public Library, Canton MI 

734.397.0999 x1253 

[ mailto:craigl at cantonpl.org | craigl at cantonpl.org ] 



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