Where ‘Dewey’ Go from Here? Perpetuation of Difference in Public Library Knowledge Organization Systems

Abstract

Employed by libraries across the globe since its conception in 1876, the Dewey Decimal Classification System (DDC) is meant to organize non-fiction materials so they can be easily shelved, retrieved, and discovered by all who access them. Although this knowledge organization system uses Arabic numerals to categorize information, the system is far from objective; the assignment of meaning to those numbers introduces bias, especially when it comes to categorizing identities. Partially due to the time and place of its invention as well as the personal prejudices held by its creator, Melvil Dewey, in practice, the DDC marginalizes the vast majority of knowledge regarding any identities that deviate from the Christian, white, cisgender, heteronormative man. This marginalization takes many forms, including the assignment of a disproportionately small divisions (or sections) for certain racial and/or religious groups, the exclusion and delegitimization of some religious identities, and the derogatory naming of specific groups of people. Notably, the ways in which materials in public libraries are organized and presented can significantly affect how the knowledge they convey is understood. And so, the biases in the organization of knowledge concerning certain racial, religious, and LGBTQ+ minorities can negatively impact the social attitudes of the community that library serves. However, neither the DDC nor the public library are static, in fact, they act as reflections of our ever-changing social beliefs; the spheres of knowledge organization and of public knowledge are constantly reinforcing and reverberating off of one another, working in tandem to shape our perception of identity and difference.