Leddy Library is home to over 1 million physical materials! This includes books, journals, atlases, maps, DVDs and more. Materials in our collection are organized by subject, using the Library of Congress classification system, and each item is given a unique call number from this system.
Library Congress Classification
Collection Locations
| Circulating Collection (Books) | Serials Collection (Journals) | ||
| Call Number | Location | Call Number | Location |
| A-HC | Main building, 2nd floor | A-HM | West building, 3rd floor |
| HD-QE | Main building, 3rd floor | HN-Q | West building, 2nd floor |
| QH-ZA | Main building, 4th floor | QA-Z | West building, basement |
| Reference Collection | West Building, basement |
| Curriculum Resource Centre (CRC) Collections | West building, 1st floor |
| Documents Collection | Main building, 2nd floor |
| Theses & Major Papers | West Building, basement |
| Media Centre | Main building, basement |
| Microfilm Reading Room | Main building, basement |
| Indexes & Abstracts | West Building, basement |
| Secondary Circulation Collection | West Building, basement |
| Archives and Special Collections | Main building, basement |
How to Read Call Numbers
Call numbers serve two functions:
- They provide a unique “address” for every item within the library.
- They group items by subject so that it is possible to browse the shelves around it to find other items nearby on the same or similar subject.
What do these call numbers mean?
Let’s start with the call number in the example below: HQ1233 .B25 1992
| Library | Leddy Library |
| Title | Enterprising women : television fandom and the creation of popular myth |
| Author | Bacon-Smith, Camille |
| Publication Date | c1992 |
| Publisher | University of Pennsylvania Press |
| Call Number | HQ1233.B25 1992 |
| Available | Leddy: Book Collection (circulating) - Main Bldng |
HQ - The first letter represents one of 21 major subdivisions of the Library of Congress Classification System (LC). The second letter represents a subdivision of the major subdivision. In this example, the letter “H” represents social sciences. The letter “Q’ represents “The family. Marriage. Women.” which is a subdivision of the social sciences.
1233 - The first set of numbers in a call number help to define a book’s subject. In this example, the number “1233” represents “Women and Feminism.”
.B25 - The letter/number combination after the first period usually represents the author, or in some cases the title; this allows for items on the same topic to be shelved alphabetically.
1992 - The year of publication often appears at the end of the call number.
How would I find it on the shelf?
Using the above example
- The first step is to find the HQ section which be located after the HN's but before the HV's.
- Use the location tables above to determine where the HQ section is in the Leddy Library
- The next step is to find 1233 which would be located after 1229 but before the 1236.
- The last step is to find .B25 1992 which would be located after .B2 2001 but before .B6 1895.
Tips for understanding call numbers
- The first part of a call number begins with one, two or three capital letters which are filed alphabetically.
- The second part is a number which are filed numerically.
- The third (and sometimes fourth) part is a letter followed by numbers. The letter is read alphabetically and the numbers is always read as a decimal.
- Often the last part is the year the material was published.
- Read the call numbers from left to right.
- Often call numbers can be quite long. Do not be intimidated or overwhelmed! The best thing to do is to break the call number into smaller parts.
- If you can't find what you are looking for, please visit the Circulation Desk or the Research Help Desk - we don't want you to leave empty-handed!
Connect with your library