Organizing fiction by genre, or genrefying, has become increasingly popular. Whether you are just considering it, in the midst of the process, or have finished genrefying, these suggestions will help make the most of your efforts.

Where Should I Start?

• Do monthly genre displays. Are your students interested?
• Do a brief survey of students and staff. What genres do they like? Can they easily find those genres in your library?
• Consider which genres are most popular. My students especially enjoy classics, so I included it as a genre for my library. (I have had many students comment to me that they had no idea we had so many classics and began reading only classics. It was amazing.) When in doubt, stick with major genres.
• Plan! How will your sections be arranged? Consider placing genres next to similar ones. For example, put mystery and adventure next to each other. This will help your students branch out.

What Process Should I Use?

1. Pull a few genres out at a time. Upside: If you are unsure about success, it allows you to pull only a few genres and collect circulation data. Downside: It will require a lot of shifting of books.
2. Identify genres for all of the fiction section and move everything at once. Upside: Once it is done, it is done, and there is no perpetual shifting of books. Downside: It will take a lot of uninterrupted time and manpower. The sudden change will also take a bit of adjustment for your students.
3. Walk the shelves and pull all the books in the genres you’ve selected. Identify tables for different genres and go to town! Once the books are on tables, have some students or parents label/sticker them with genres and shelve them. Upside: It is probably the quickest method. Downside: It can take one day to one week, depending on the help you get. You really, really, have to know your collection, and you may not know how much space to allocate until you see how full each table is.

What about Cataloging?

• Do not forget to update the books’ locations in your catalog software! If you genrefy without changing the cataloging, both you and the students will be frustrated because you will not know where books are located.
• Some librarians modify their call numbers to align with the genres. For example, books by Suzanne Collins in the science fiction section would have a call number of SF COL or SCI COL

What about Books that Could Go in Multiple Places?

• This is a common question! Consider your guiding question: Students looking in which genre would most likely pick up this book? Have a group of students read books you question and suggest a genre.
• For series that have multiple genres, consider where students would pick up Book One of the series and keep the series together. Who knows? Reading one of these books may make a student realize they like a new genre!
• No worries! If someone suggests that book belongs in another genre, just change the sticker/label and update the location in the catalog. The purpose is to help students find new books they enjoy.

How Long Will It Take?

• This completely depends on you and how much time you have to devote to genrefying. My entire almost 8,000-item fiction collection took me three months of continuous work to complete. You may take a few weeks, months, or even an entire school year. It is up to you how much time you are willing to commit each day or each week.

What about New Books?

• It does take an extra step in processing, but unless you get hundreds in at once, it does not take very much time. All you have to do is add the sticker/label and change its location in the catalog. I love this because I can really analyze which genres I am buying the most and which ones I may need to invest in more.

What Happens When Students Go to Other Libraries?

• This process has helped my students’ understanding of the concept of genre. It’s been an opportunity to teach about genre and advanced searching of the catalog. These skills have translated into students’ navigation of the public library, too.

Is Genrefying Worth It?

• Yes! It helps your library be more user-friendly. Your students will visit your library more, you will be able to recommend books more easily, and it will focus your limited budget. Students will branch out in their reading and discover more authors in the genres they enjoy.

I Genrefied My Collection. Now What?

• Show it off! Take pictures! Post on your library’s website and/or social media accounts. Mention user feedback in your monthly newsletter.
• Collect circulation data! Measure your circulation statistics each month compared to the previous year. Use this to inform your purchasing.
• Hold a gathering to show off for staff. I hosted my English department’s Welcome Back meeting in the library. It was well-received and teachers found books to check out for themselves!
• Ask students and staff for feedback. Ask them how user-friendly it is, if they found what they were looking for, and for any suggestions they might have.
• Be proud! You have accomplished a major feat and helped your library become more user-friendly at the same time!

—Rachel Grover, a school librarian in Virginia, focused her masters’ degree work at Old Dominion University on genrefication.