TL;DR: spine labels for new materials have been enhanced to convey more information than they have in the past.
July 2025 update: Paperback romances
Spine labels for new paperback romances will cease to be pink. Effective July 1, Cataloging Services no longer applies pink spine-label overlays to mass-market paperback romance items. Collection Services has advised all branches to plan interfiling ROM into the general adult FIC collection. The collection code for Paperback Romance will be sunset after systemwide interfiling has been completed.
January 2023 update: Biographies and multi-disc media
Call numbers for biographies — materials with prefix B / JB / YB — have long reflected the subject’s name on the spine label (generally: the surname). These call numbers will now be augmented to reflect additional elements of the subject’s name (generally: the first name). This expansion applies across all languages and formats.
Call numbers for multi-disc media (generally, CD audiobooks) will be augmented to include the count of discs on the spine label. This addition will appear as a separate line on the spine; for example, “6CD”.
These changes coincide with the elimination of “pocket” labels for new materials.
December 2022 update: Large Print books
Technical Operations will no longer add a blue LP dot above the spine label for Large Print books. Spine labels will continue to reflect the LP prefix as part of the item call number. This change should not affect shelving; newer Large Print materials will simply lack the blue LP dot.
August 2022 update: Holiday picture books
Based on feedback that Holiday Picture Books would be better shelved by each individual holiday, Cataloging Services will update our procedures to expand the call numbers associated with this collection. The change is intended to improve the experience of customers browsing shelves in your branch, as well as staff shelving these materials.
As an example, the table below shows the differences on a book spine for a new Christmas title, with the legacy-style spine on the left and the new-style spine on the right.
| legacy style | new style |
|
{{ sticker }} JP Kalish Ellen |
JP HOLIDAY Christm Kalish |
New call numbers will spell out "HOLIDAY" on the spine label, which allows us to streamline the physical preparation of these materials. Holiday stickers will be discontinued for new items when the updated call numbers go into effect August 2022.
Expanded call numbers
Expanded call numbers, reflecting more of the author name on the spine label, were first applied to new items in July 2020. (This included "added copies" of older titles, as well as titles brand-new to FCPL.) Call numbers for multi-author series were also changed that same month, with call numbers based on the series, brand, or featured character name.
Legacy context
The new-style call numbers contrast with our legacy practice, which used a single-letter for nonfiction and three-letters for fiction call numbers. In addition, multi-author series—or titles the average reader would perceive to be closely related, like a series—were widely scattered across the alphabet, based on the particular author of each different installment.
For example, picture books featuring the character Peppa Pig were not filing together on a single shelf, as these three titles show:
The new call-number treatment prevents any further scattering by using the call number JP Peppa Pig to label newly acquired items. (This includes restocking additional copies of older titles.) Completely eliminating the existing series scatter will happen over time, but will likely be a long, slow process.
Background on the change
Based on multiple informal discussions with Circulation managers and their teams, the Cataloging department used feedback from branch staff to propose four potential changes to FCPL call numbers. All library staff were invited to respond (anonymously) to these proposals using a system-wide online survey, conducted for two weeks in June 2020. Just shy of one hundred responses were received on the survey; respondents were overwhelmingly in support of the four proposals outlined. Below is a summary of each proposal, their ratings, and a small sample of the comments received; ratings based on 96 responses, using a scale where 5 = strong support.
- Proposal #1: Expand author mark used in fiction call numbers / average rating = 4.34 out of 5
- Proposal #2: Expand author mark used in nonfiction call numbers / average rating = 4.58 out of 5
- Proposal #3: Use series name in call numbers for multi-author series, etc. / average rating = 4.53 out of 5
- Proposal #4: Update ESL call number prefix to ELL / average rating = 4.43 out of 5
Sample comments:
- "I think this would help a lot with keeping the shelves in order."
- "As a recent page, I welcome these changes."
- "I think greater specificity in call numbers is always a great idea."
- "Thank you for doing this and soliciting feedback! I really hope your plan moves forward."
Based on the results of the survey, Cataloging staff implemented all four of the proposed changes effective July 2020.
