Library Services Overview: Books

The Library has a substantial collection of works of literature and information about literature or authors.  You can find books in the Library Catalog.

Literature call numbers begin with P.  Dictionaries in English or other languages begin with PA for Latin and Greek, PC for Romance languages, PE for English, PF for German, PG for Russian, and so forth.  Guides to writing papers may be found in PE, but also may be found in the subject area, for example, in BF for Psychology and QH for Biology papers.

General literary topics begin with PN.   French and Spanish literature and books about French and Spanish literature are shelved under PQ.  British, Irish, and Canadian literature is assigned to PR.  American literature is found in PS. 

The same call number system is used in the Reference Collection and in the Circulating Collection, that is books that can be checked out of the Library.  Some call numbers in literature are very long.  Ask the Librarian for assistance.

This is an example of a collection of poetry by a single American author, and a book of criticism about that author:

Often a multi-author poetry anthology is a good way to read the very best poems by several authors.  This is a typical anthology built around a particular theme:

While some novels are shelved on the first floor of the Library in the Paperback Collection or Popular Fiction Collection, most are considered works of literature.  They are given a call number and are shelved on the second floor.