Library Class
5th Grade
Name:
Period/Day:
The Dewey Decimal System
The Dewey Decimal System is a plan for shelving nonfiction books in
number order. Melvil Dewey, an American librarian, devised it.
The Dewey Plan
1. Books are put into ten large subject groups, called
categories.
2. Each category is given 100 basic numbers.
3. Each number stands for a special topic.
4. Each book receives a number and is placed on the
shelf in numerical order.
5. Books with the same number are put into
alphabetical order by the author’s last name.
Dewey Categories
000 – 099
100 – 199
200 – 299
300 – 399
400 – 499
500 – 599
600 – 699
700 – 799
800 – 899
900 – 999
+
92
General Works
Philosophy
Religion
Social Sciences
Language
Pure Sciences
Technology
The Arts
Literature
Geography and History
Biographies
Every nonfiction book has a Dewey number. Look at these topics and their Dewey number.
In which category does each belong?
Encyclopedia
Mathematics
Football
031
511
796
American Poems
Orchestra
The Bible
811
785
220
Rocks
Africa
Farming
552
960
630
Dewey Decimal System Categories
000 – 099
General Works (Encyclopedias, Atlases)
100 – 199
Philosophy (Books about the mind & character; how
you think and feel)
200 – 299
Religion (Bible, myths, various religions)
300 – 399
Social Sciences (Government, transportation,
education, holidays, legends, folk tales, & fairy
tales)
400 – 499
Language (Dictionaries, grammar, & foreign
language)
500 – 599
Pure Sciences (Books about plants, wild animals,
planets, land forms, weather, dinosaurs, math,
astronomy, & chemistry)
600 – 699
Technology (Books on making or doing useful
things such as cooking, nursing, homemaking. Also
pets, inventions, safety & health, space exploration)
700 – 799
The Arts (Books on painting, music, dancing,
hobbies, crafts, riddles, sports, photography,
drawing)
800 – 899
Literature (Poetry, plays, & short stories)
900 – 999
Geography & History (Books on the states & other
countries, history, travel)
92
Biographies (Information about people’s lives)
Library Class
5th Grade
Name:
Period/Day:
WHAT’S THAT DEWEY NUMBER
& CATEGORY NAME?
Read the pretend situations below. Decide what the correct Dewey numbers
and category names are. Type the Dewey number and category name after
each question. (The first one is an example and has been answered for you).
1. Your bulldog puppy insists on digging in the neighbor’s flowers. You
want to train him to behave. Where should you look in the Library for a
book to help? 600-699 Technology
2. You really want four white mice for pets, but your mother and father say
they are too much trouble to take care of and keep. Where can you find a
book to help you?
3. Your cousin saw a shooting star Saturday when she was star watching.
Where can you find a book about stars?
4. Your older brother plans to vote in this fall’s election. Where can he find
a book about voting?
5. Wellsboro will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Where would you find
information about holidays?
6. One of your friends took a chameleon to school. When he put it onto the
teacher’s desk, it changed colors. Where might you find a book that would
explain these color changes?
7. Your nephew plans to visit your family. He knows all about football and
is quick to let you know! Where could you find a book about football?
8. You and your sister want to make your mother a birthday cake from
scratch, but you do not have a cookbook. Where would you look?
9. You need a book about hurricanes for a science report. Where do you
look?
10. Your pet gerbil is a strange shade of color because your little brother has
been sneaking it chocolate cookies at bedtime. Where do you look for a
book on caring for pet gerbils?
11. You plan on making a mask for the upcoming school play. Your skill at
arts and crafts will help you to make the best mask ever! Where would you
look?
12. You want to learn some beginning Italian. Where do you look?
13. You received an adorable kitten for your birthday. You want to take a
picture of it, but do not know anything about photography. Where would
you look?
14. You plan to do an extra credit report for Science Class. Since finding
different kinds of rocks and labeling them is an option, you have decided to
find a book about rocks. Where would you look?
15. You need to make a birthday card for your best friend. You would like
to look at some poems so you could add one to your card. Where do you
look?
16. Your Social Studies Class is doing projects on states. Where would you
look for a state book on Kentucky to check out?
17. There is a new family in town, and they practice the Hindu religion.
You wonder where to look for information this. Where do you look?
18. Under what Dewey number and category name would you find
encyclopedias for your state project?
Library Class – 5th Grade
Dewey Decimal System
Name:
Period/Day:
Dewey Decimal Numbers
Example:
92.1
Ab
92.1
Wr
Which one comes first?
Answer: 92.1
Ab
Put these Dewey numbers in order by numbering each set 1-5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
201.3 La __________
921.5 Sm __________
422.1 Ba _________
685.3 La __________
123.5 Tu _________
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
986.5 St __________
937.2 La _________
892.3 Ra _________
463.8 La _________
368.1 Ta _________
6. 297.1 As __________
7. 924.6 Bu __________
8. 432.1 By __________
9. 923.8 La __________
10. 222.2 Ma _________
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
299.1 St _________
565.5 Ci _________
156.6 Tu ________
156.9 Te ________
635.9 Zu ________
11. 223.1 Tu __________
12. 224.8 Na _________
13. 226.1 So __________
14. 496.8 La __________
15. 495.3 Su _________
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
736.5 Mu _________
991.3 Di _________
436.8 Da _________
638.4 Ve ________
463.8 Da _________
16. 899.9 Ta __________
17. 296.8 Ma __________
18. 299.3 Li __________
19. 463.1 Ma __________
20. 623.3 Du __________
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
454.5 Bu _________
330.8 Gr _________
410.8 Zi _________
256.9 Mc _________
543.8 St _________