There are 2 kinds of books in the library:

• Fiction or story books, like the ‘Harry Potter’ books.
• Non-Fiction, or books with information and true facts to help with homework or hobbies and interests.

Fiction books are kept on the library shelves in alphabetical order by the name of the writer so you will find J K Rowling under R and Jacqueline Wilson. under W and so on.

Non-Fiction books are shelved in subject order so you will find all the books about one subject (like football or history) in the same place.

Every subject has a number and the books are on the shelf in number order, so that football is at 796 or English history is at 942 – the number is written at the bottom of the spine.

Here is a list of the main numbers you will see in the library:

• 000 - Reference books like encyclopaedias
• 100 - Ideas and the supernatural (such as ghosts and witches)
• 200 - All religions, myths and legends
• 300 - Welfare and public services, shopping and trade, transport, schools and education, law, crimes, costumes, customs, folk and fairy tales
• 400 - Different languages and grammar, dictionaries
• 500 - Science, maths, stars and planets, weather and climate, physics, chemistry, biology, natural history
• 600 - Engineering, medicine, farming, pets, cookery and housekeeping, industry, inventions
• 700 - Arts and crafts, architecture, hobbies, painting and drawing, music, sport, films and TV programmes
• 800 - Literature, poems, drama and plays
• 900 - History, geography, travel, books about real people

The library catalogue lists all the books in the library by their writer or subject – ask the staff to show you on a computer or follow the link to

• Sandwell Libraries' Online Catalogue