I saw the headlines yesterday about the Perry library in Gilbert, Arizona, but I didn’t read any of the articles because it was a busy day. I read one this morning. Apparently the Perry Branch of the Maricopa County Library District is to be the first public library in the country to drop the Dewey (and any other formal) classification scheme.

Surely they don’t think this is a good idea. Or is it?

I started reading Weinberger’s Everything is Miscellaneous a few weeks ago but had to set it aside because I really don’t have time to read anything right now. Last night before bed, I finished chapter one. There was nothing in this chapter that wasn’t already obvious to me–I think it must be how Weinberger says things that has everyone, including me, interested in his book. I really like the way he writes. (But I digress. I guess reading about the Perry library reminded me of Weinberger. I wonder what he thinks. I’ll have to check out his blog.)

One book can’t be in more than one place at a time. We need a system of classifying books in a collection so they can be located (for those who know what they want), even if that classification scheme doesn’t make sense to some people. So, back to Gilbert. (It’s probably really hot there.) In terms of browsing, what happens to the book that deals with more than one topic? The library will choose the one it thinks is the best fit, but then the book will be lost to everyone who expects to find it in another area. Folks will still need to use the catalog (they are keeping the catalog, aren’t they?). Libraries aren’t bookstores. Bookstores have problems, too. For example, what’s up with the “African-American studies” section? Why is there so much fiction in that section of some bookstores? Another digression.

OK. No more time this morning, but I’d really like to understand how the library envisions this working. And why they don’t think that, in the long-run, they are doing their users a disservice. Dewey and LCC are not perfect, but they are (IMO) certainly better than nothing.

Perhaps I’m missing something.