A new library opened in Gilbert, Arizona in 2007. Being a new library, they decided to try something new. Instead of organizing it according to the Dewey Decimal Classification, as 95% of American public libraries do, they decided to organize it like a bookstore. After all, their thinking went, people find those numbers a little cryptic, but everyone understands “gardening,” or “technology,” or “computers.” I haven’t heard how it worked out, but I think they exchanged something that works well for something that doesn’t. If I go to a bookstore just looking for a general topic, I can find something. If I look for anything in particular,  I can’t  always find it. Too often, I have looked in the bookstore’s computer and noticed that they have the title I want and not been able to find it. It’s supposed to be in some broad topic, arranged by author. Unfortunately, if I can’t find it right away, the clerks can’t, either. That’s frustrating enough, but if I want something more specific than the store’s broad topic and don’t know a particular title or author, it’s arrangement actually hampers my ability to find anything. For example, I can easily enough find the … Continue reading →