Understanding Call Numbers
Books in the CCBC Libraries are arranged by Library of Congress call numbers. The Library of Congress system uses letters and numbers together to make a unique "address" for each book on the shelf. Similar subjects are located together on the shelf. You can often find other helpful books shelved nearby.
You will find the call number on the spine of the book. You just need the address, but this is why this particular book is in this place.
To find People and Places, the green book on the image above, locate the G section, then the GN section. It will be close to the beginning because the 30s are generally small numbers in LC (the numbers go into the 1000s). Locate GN 31.5. If there are other GN31.5's look at the letter (M) down on the next row and it is numerical from there.
Library of Congress Classification Subject Areas
The LC system we use groups subjects in these categories.
To see more about the Library of Congress classification system, click on any letter.
- A -- GENERAL WORKS
- B -- PHILOSOPHY. PSYCHOLOGY. RELIGION
- C -- AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY
- D -- WORLD HISTORY AND HISTORY OF EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, ETC.
- E -- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
- F -- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
- G -- GEOGRAPHY. ANTHROPOLOGY. RECREATION
- H -- SOCIAL SCIENCES
- J -- POLITICAL SCIENCE
- K -- LAW
- L -- EDUCATION
- M -- MUSIC AND BOOKS ON MUSIC
- N -- FINE ARTS
- P -- LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
- Q -- SCIENCE
- R -- MEDICINE
- S -- AGRICULTURE
- T -- TECHNOLOGY
- U -- MILITARY SCIENCE
- V -- NAVAL SCIENCE
- Z -- BIBLIOGRAPHY. LIBRARY SCIENCE. INFORMATION RESOURCES (GENERAL)