Menchville’s school library has made some changes- and no, we’re not just talking about the jazz music that plays in the mornings.

School librarians and student volunteers have been hard at work prepping the library for back-to-school, and this year, they’re doing things a bit differently. Menchville’s fiction section has been completely reorganized to make finding your next favorite book easier than ever.

Before, finding a fiction book to read generally required students to already know what they were looking for. Browsing through all the shelves was always an option, but the results could be unpredictable. All of the fiction works were positioned in the same corner of the library and organized by author, making browsing for a certain genre or story more difficult.

In hopes of encouraging more students to use the school library and check out books outside of class, Media Specialist Sandy Graham spearheaded a project to reorganize the fiction section. With the help of Hunter Young, class of 2018, and taking inspiration from book store organization, the fiction section has been split and classified into 15 overall genres- action/adventure; books in verse; classics; dystopian/science fiction; fantasy; historical; horror/thriller; magical realism; mystery/suspense; paranormal; realistic; relationships/romance; sports; survival; and urban fiction. The genre sorting system is color coded to match stickers on the book spines, and the books are grouped by section in the library- making it easy for students to peruse the shelves for a new read.

“We’ve made a few changes to the fiction section to make it easier to find books,” Graham announced to an 11 English class. “When you go into Barnes and Noble or some other bookstore, how are the books organized? Everything is sorted by genre so you can browse for the story you want.”

Several English classes have already been led through the new library set-up by Graham. Students were given time to find new reading material using the new genre key. Classes were also asked to write down little notes saying what they liked most about the library, and these post-its were displayed along the library whiteboard. The consensus was very positive; students noted how they appreciate the calm atmosphere, the nature cams playing on the tvs, and, most prominently, how easy it now is to find a good work of fiction to read.

Students are encouraged to check out the new changes in the library and explore the renovated fiction section for themselves. Don’t have a lot of time to browse in person? Click the link below, then click on the colored tabs of the books below to familiarize yourself with the genre key and see what Menchville’s library has to offer.

Fiction Genre Key