Most of the books and magazines in our collections, and those in many other libraries — particularly for non-fiction — are arranged by the Dewey Decimal Classification system. First published in 1876, this numerical system for organising knowledge has been republished 23 times. Ongoing revisions continue and OCLC, the organisation that manages Dewey, are inviting contributions to make Dewey more global and inclusive in the way it classifies material in library collections.
As staff working with the collections, we are very fortunate to spend time in the stacks, browsing the shelves.
In the lead up to this year’s Library Lovers’ Day on 14 February1, I went looking for love on the shelves at 152.41 and 128.46 (classified as Love & Affection and Love respectively).
What do the numbers mean?
Dewey is organised in steps or ‘classes’ that are sequentially subdivided into smaller subject areas. LibraryThing’s Melvil Dewey System (MDS) webpage illustrates this very simply. Everything organised in the 100s is classed as Philosophy and Psychology.
I’ve looked at two Dewey codes today: 152.41 (Love & Affection) and 128.46 (Love) — so what’s the difference?
The 100s are broken down into more specific areas: the 150s are Psychology, and the 152s include Emotions. 152.41 is therefore the emotional feeling of Love & Affection. Below you can see some of the books at this classification in the Redmond Barry Reading Room (the B series):
In contrast, the 120s are Epistemology (or how you know what you know), and the 128s are how we know what we know about Humankind. 128.46 is therefore the philosophical concept of Love and how we know what it is. It’s good to keep in mind that Love in this sense sits on the shelf right next to Suffering:
Love in the stacks
To start my journey into our Dewey number, I headed to the ‘S’ series, which is our overflow for the Redmond Barry Reading Room’s general collection.
It’s an interesting mix of focus in S 152.41 Love & Affection — some titles look at loving as a science or a theory, while others consider loving an art. NSW writer Rainer Taëni says Love (is) the Goal of Living, while Dawn Hill asks: if Love is the Answer, what was the Question?
It’s a little more bleak over in S 128.46 (Love) where I only found one book — Love’s Philosophy by Richard White- sitting directly next to a translation of Philippe Ariès’ Western Attitudes toward Death.
Love in Australia
Love was a little elusive in the ‘S’ series, so I headed over to ‘SLT’. This is the overflow sequence for ‘LT’ — the main sequence of books found in the La Trobe Reading Room (‘the Dome’), and the home of our Australiana collection. Books acquired through Legal Deposit often end up here (marked with the LD sticker), meaning there will be a focus on Victorian content.
Where S 128.46 had been a little sad, SLT 128.46 was an instant pick-me-up:
The Penguin Books Australia I Love You book is filled with quotes and tidbits of information about Love — some more up to date than others. For those old enough to remember the pre-Unicode emoticon, this little book (published in 2004) has a whole chapter on how to use them to add a bit of romance to your next SMS. Try sending a digital rose to your beloved and await the response (although maybe don’t use the book’s suggested text-speak acronyms — LOL no longer conveys ‘Lots of Love’2)
@>–;–3
Another one of my favourites at this location was How to Say I Love You in (Almost) Every Language by Celeste Shelly (SLT 152.41 SH443H) which does exactly what it claims: from Polish (‘Kochamcię’4) to Klingon (‘bangwl’ SoH’5) to American Sign Language:
Love in other forms
I took my search for love further afield by venturing to the Folio shelves. At the Library, location codes ending in ‘F’ are folio-sized works, meaning they’re taller and need to be shelved separately. At the ‘JLTF’ sequence (Juvenile — La Trobe Stack — Folio) I found Love & Affection in the form of empathy, with a book for primary school students:
Still looking for Love, I took the last turn at the end of the La Trobe Stacks, to a place I have never ventured before — the very start of the La Trobe pamphlet collection (‘LTP’).
In amongst all of those folders containing pamphlets I came across another person looking for love, in the form of Chris James’ What is Love?, an artistic pamphlet including wisdom such as: ‘Love is… being the person you want to be, only then are you free to share your love.’6
I still had one more place to check — the ‘KT’ series, where we keep our kits. Would Love be in this small and unassuming archival box?
Inside the box is a shiny tin heart…
… containing a beautiful set of illustrated oracle cards designed to inspire love! Will you draw the Secret Admirer card? Or will you be reminded to ‘nurture the bonds of friendship’?8
We hoped you enjoyed Discovering Dewey with us. Most of the titles shown here are held in onsite storage, and can be ordered in advance via our catalogue with your free SLV Membership. There are many more titles available on the shelves that you can access immediately. If you would like to browse this Dewey range yourself, why not check out 152.41 and 128.46 in either the Redmond Barry (B series) or La Trobe reading rooms (LT series) next time you visit!
More to explore
Why not check out some of our blogs in the Discovering Dewey series:
- Discovering Dewey – 641.5 and beyond (cooking & cookbooks)
- Discovering Dewey 305.42: Women and their role in society
Or for more Library Lovers’ Day inspiration, check out a real life love story found in our archive!
References
- Library Lovers’ Day was started in Australia and is now celebrated internationally.
- I love you (2004), Penguin, Camberwell, Vic.
- The emoticon for a rose. As above.
- Shelly C (2018), How to Say I Love You in (Almost) Every Language, Smith Street Books, Melbourne, p 154.
- As above, p 189.
- James C (2016) What is Love?, Transpersonal Journeys.com, Welshpool, Vic.
- Photograph has been digitally altered to remove personal mailing information from the front of the pamphlet
- Salerno T C (2003) Lovers Oracle, Just Imagine Arthouse, Glen Waverley, Vic.
