The Arthur C. Banks Library uses the Library of Congress Classification system, commonly referred to as LC. This classification system organizes items according to subject. LC uses 21 categories or broad subject areas. Each subject area is represented by a different letter in the alphabet.

Each library item has a unique call number, this number allows you to locate the item in the library. As mentioned before, each subject is represented by a letter in the alphabet - the letter "E" indicates that the primary subject of a book is History, the number 169 following the letter E represents United States history.  The call number identifed above is for the book titled, On being American, Selected Writings, 1783-1828 by Noah Webster.

How to Read a Call Number

A call number is like an address for a book. It tells you exactly where to go to find the book, or where the book should be returned. The call number is made up of letters, whole numbers, decimals, a publication date, and (on occasion) a volume and/or copy number. This allows for each book to have a specific location. One book’s location cannot be confused with another book's location.

For example, a library patron may wish to find Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. To find this book the patron must go to the Capital Community College Library Catalog and conduct a title search. After the patron conducts the search they will find that the book’s call number is:

PS1308.A1 1917

But the call number looks like this on the spine of the book:

PS
1308
.A1
1997

Alphanumeric Subject

The LC system uses the beginning letters and first line of numbers to indicate the subject of the book (in this example, PS 1308: Literature > American Literature > 19^th Century). As you might expect, the letters are ordered alphabetically. For example, the letter D comes before K, and so forth. Similarly, the letter P comes before PS, which comes before PR, etc.

The numbers immediately following the first letter(s) are read as whole numbers. For example, 1308 comes before 1500 but after 130. Sometimes there are decimals in the first number. In these cases, the whole numbers are read as before, but the numbers following the decimal are read as decimals.

How do we read decimals? How are they different from whole numbers?

For example, 212.16 comes before 212.5 because .16 is a smaller decimal number than .50. Similarly, 212.257836 comes before 212.3 because .257836 is a smaller decimal number than .300000.

Cutter Numbers

The next part of the call number (.R423 in our example) is referred to as the Cutter number. It is called a Cutter number after Charles Ammi Cutter, who developed the Cutter Expansive Classification scheme in the late 19th century.

Cutter numbers contain letters, which are ordered alphabetically, and decimal numbers. So, for example, .R453 comes after .C76 and .R227, but before .R960 and .T481.

Some books have two Cutter numbers. They are both read as decimals even though the second Cutter number does not contain a decimal (in order to distinguish the two numbers). An example of such a call number is below, with the Cutter numbers in bold:

ML
420
.S77
R33
2004

Date of Publication

The last number in the above example, 2004, is the date of publication. In addition to providing useful information, the publication date is used to shelve books in chronological order for the same book. For example, a 2004 second edition comes after the original 1978 publication but before the 2006 third edition, and so forth.

You can also find material under broad call numbers and subject headings of Art, Literature and Music, among others. Please consult a reference librarian for assistance with other call numbers and subject headings.

• E184's Elements of the Population: United States History
• F1201-3799 Latin America. Spanish America
• F1201-1392 Mexico
• F1218.5-1221 Antiquities. Indians
• F1401-1419 Latin America (General)
• F1421-1440 Central America
• F1435-1435.3 Mayas
• F1441-1457 Belize
• F1461-1477 Guatemala
• F1481-1497 Salvador (El Salvador)
• F1501-1517 Honduras
• F1521-1537 Nicaragua
• F1541-1557 Costa Rica
• F1561-1577 Panama
• F1569.C2 Canal Zone. Panama Canal
• F1601-1629 West Indies
• F1630-1640 Bermudas
• F1650-1660 Bahamas
• F1741-1991 Greater Antilles
• F1751-1854.9 Cuba
• F1788-1788.22 Communist regime
• F1861-1896 Jamaica
• F1900-1941 Haiti (Island). Hispaniola
• F1912-1930 Haiti (Republic)
• F1931-1941 Dominican Republic
• F1951-1983 Puerto Rico
• F1991 Navassa
• F2001-2151 Lesser Antilles
• Groups of islands, by geographical distribution
• F2006 Leeward islands
• F2011 Windward Islands
• F2016 Islands along Venezuela coast
• F2033-2129 Individual islands
• Groups of islands, by political allegiance
• F2131-2133 British West Indies
• F2136 Virgin Islands of the United States
• F2141 Netherlands West Indies. Dutch West Indies
• F2151 French West Indies
• F2155-2191 Caribbean area. Caribbean Sea
• F2201-3799 South America
• F2201-2239 General
• F2251-2299 Colombia
• F2301-2349 Venezuela
• F2351 Guiana
• F2361-2391 Guyana. British Guiana
• F2401-2431 Surinam
• F2441-2471 French Guiana
• F2501-2659 Brazil
• F2661-2699 Paraguay
• F2701-2799 Uruguay
• F2801-3021 Argentina
• F3031-3031.5 Falkland Islands
• F3051-3285 Chile
• F3301-3359 Bolivia
• F3401-3619 Peru
• F3701-3799 Ecuador