Some Libraries Are Ditching Dewey

I am still in mourning over the loss of card catalogs in the local public library, don't tell me they're ditching the Dewey, too!

I love libraries of all kinds, and here in Berkeley we are blessed with some seriously old-school public space-as-public-art WPA-era beauties. I love the smell of them; the hush, the feeling that they are little temples to our love of books and learning.

I was raised Catholic, and learning the Dewey Decimal system as a kid felt a little like learning the Catechism -- the mysterious, slightly mystical entry price into a land of wonder. Once you learned the Dewey Decimal system, the world (or at least the printed page) was at your feet -- you could find a book on a shelf anywhere in the library by following the numbers -- it was a little miracle in its own right.

Much like the passing of the card catalog, the loss of the Dewey Decimal system means less of a chance for a little accidental magic -- that moment when, as a kid, you followed a trail for a paper or report and found yourself staring at the book next to it that was about something you never even knew you had an interest in until you saw it. In some ways, learning to use the library to do research was like learning to become a reporter; it taught me to be careful, methodical, dogged -- and sometimes, to follow an unexpected lead to a treasure trove of information.

Unlike losing the card catalog, which is, in the age of the Internet, a necessary evil, I don't think losing the Dewey will make using the library a better, faster or more efficient experience. It's a little like losing an old friend.