You may have seen other libraries arrange their adult fiction books by genre. We even do that with our juvenile easy (picture) books! But why don't we arrange our adult fiction books like that?
Modern fiction books are rarely about one topic. Many times you'll see several genres listed on a catalog record. Some popular mashed-up genres include:
- Mystery-horror-thrillers (Stephen King, Dean Koontz)
- Christian romantic suspense (Lynette Eason, Dee Henderson)
- Romantasy (Carissa Broadbent, Sarah J. Maas)
Because of this, it can sometimes be difficult to choose just one genre that encapsulates the entire book.
We used to put stickers on books so patrons could easily identify more of what they want to read. (You may see some of these still in the system.) With multiple genres and little room on the spine, however, we don't want to obscure the title/author with genre stickers.
So how can patrons find books in certain genres?
All of our books have genres listed. You can click through in the catalog record to see more records with those genres.
You can also use the "read-alikes" feature. Click through to an item and choose "Read-alikes" on the left-hand side. You'll see book suggestions, tags, and more.
For those who want something particular or just like exploring, recommend NoveList Plus! It's free to us on our website. Go to Find > Books & More for links to NoveList Plus and NoveList K-8 Plus (limited to children's books). Search for books, authors, genres, moods, and tons more. Learn about more features by watching the videos on our basic training YouTube playlist.
Posted by Emily Correa on 12-3-2024