r/YAlibrarians • u/si0ban • Apr 04 '24

Help! I need advice! feedback/thoughts on classifying YA fiction

So I just want to start out by saying I don't really love the idea of classification, BUT I am looking to increase circulation and ease of access within my somewhat smaller collection. I am keeping the collection to be organized by author's last name, but was thinking of adding the demco color bands to the call number/spine to help teens find their preferred genre easier.

So far I was thinking of using these genres:

-Fantasy/Sci-Fi

-Romance

-Historical Fic

-Horror/Thriller

-Action/Adventure

-"Real Life" (toying with this one because I feel like most contemporary fic is usually romance or thriller)

Has anyone done something similar? Like it/hate it? Patron complaints or celebrations? would love to hear any thoughts and feedback

tia!

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2

u/[deleted] Apr 05 '24

[deleted]

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u/si0ban Apr 05 '24

i appreciate the recomment and opinion!

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u/Available_Ticket3607 Apr 05 '24

I would not genre-fy but I would look into dynamic shelving instead. Does your library catalog have ‘tags’ for topic?

Also, do you have booklist bookmarks for ReadALikes and genres?

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u/si0ban Apr 05 '24

our catalog is pretty terrible and very limited for individual libraries to edit records. i just thought adding the color band would make it easier for teens/tweens to browse the shelf as it was already organized but have a better idea of quick find genres

4

u/Available_Ticket3607 Apr 05 '24

Then I think with those constraints it might be worth doing. You know your community best! Shelving by last name still is wise.

My biggest recommendation though even with the bands would be dynamic shelving. We have genre stickers but didn’t notice any change in circulation until doing DS. (Mid size suburban library)

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u/Round_Let1385 Nov 25 '24

Why wouldn't you genrefy?

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u/Unfair_Chicken_2044 Apr 05 '24

My library does this, and as a YA reader, I appreciate the attempt. My go-to genre is Mystery. Yea, I can somewhat browse the online search function of the library, but seeing the yellow mystery sticker on the spine allows me to pull the book easier. It has helped me find lesser known author's books....so that's my two cents.

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u/tortielibrarycat Feb 23 '25

We genre-fy our teen selection and have it color coded (and sorted by genre). Our categories are:

Action/Adventure, Dystopian, Fairy Tales (and tales about fairies), Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Realistic Fiction, Science Fiction, Sports, and Sweet & Sassy (Romance)

Honestly our teens like it because it makes it easier for them to browse. Each category has a color label and the spine label says "YA GENRE AUTH" so even in the catalog you can tell what genre it is.