Episode 17: You Too Can Ditch Dewey with Lauren Claymon

Everyone talks about ditching Dewey at the elementary level. Lauren Claymon is here to tell secondary librarians it works just as well for you.

In this episode of The Library Stage, Amanda Hunt welcomes Lauren Claymon, high school librarian in Liberty Hill ISD serving both Liberty Hill High School and Legacy Ranch High School, and chair of the TLA TAYSHAS Reading List.

It started with a shelving problem. Pulling nonfiction for her OnRamps Rhetoric students, Lauren found herself crossing the whole library to gather books that clearly belonged together. Why is civil rights in the 300s when some vendors put it in the 900s? Why is LeBron in biography instead of sports? True crime turned out to be scattered across four sections at once.

Her results make the case: a massive increase in nonfiction circulation. Her conclusion is blunter than the usual line — it's false that teenagers don't want nonfiction. They just don't know how to find it.

Pillar: 🩷 Literacy

💡 Steal-this-idea: Do your labels last. Move the books, change every call number in your catalog, then print all your labels at once from a resource list.

📌 Lauren presented this at TLA with her colleague Julie Jennings. Dreaming of Ditching Dewey

Nonfiction Categories

Plus, stick around for her Curtain Call featuring:

• 📖 Lauren's book recommendations — as TAYSHAS chair, she came with a rapid-fire list

Follow Lauren: 📱 @lkclaymon @lhhslibrary

Think your library story belongs on the stage? Pitch your talk: thenextgenlib@gmail.com

Hosted by Amanda Hunt, MLS (@TheNextGenLibrarian) 🌐 thenextgenlibrarian.com

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The Library Stage is an independent podcast, not affiliated with TED Conferences LLC.