Creating Reader-Friendly Libraries: Will fiction classification schemes increase use?

by Sharon L. Baker,
RQ Vol. 27, #3, Spring 1988, pp. 366-376.

Hypothesis 1 accepted: "Physically separating fiction into classed categories will significantly increase use, because browsers will be quickly and easily guided to the type of novel desired thus overcoming the effects of information overload."

Hypothesis 2 accepted: "Simply marking the spines of regular fiction titles with classed category labels (and leaving them interfiled with the regular fiction collection) will increase use, because browser will be quickly and easily guided to the type of novel desired thus overcoming the effects of information overload."

Hypothesis 3 accepted: "The overall use of classified fiction will increase directly with the library's size because browsers will use such classification schemes more as the potentioal for information overload increases."

Experiment supporting hypotheses 1, 2 and 3

Location:

Denton Public Library: 2,500 volumes
Thomasville Public Library: 6,000 volumes
Lexington Public Library: 15,500 volumes

Groups:

Experimental group 1: 100 romances shelved separately and marked with "romance" spine labels at Denton and Thomasville Libraries
Experimental group 2: 150 mysteries shelved separately and marked with "mystery" spine labels at Lexington Library
Experimental group 3: 150 romances marked with "romance" spine labels at Lexington Library. These 150 romances were on the regular shelves.
Control group: fiction located on regular shelves in all three libraries

Experiment:

Pre-test period: January 1986 to March 1986, circulation measured for all groups while on regular shelves.
Test period: April 1986 to June 1986, circulation measured for all groups in experimental condition and control group on regular shelves.

Results:

Hypothesis #1 evidence: Genre shelving and labeling increase circulation in all three libraries. Hypothesis #3 evidence: The amount of increased circulation depended greatly on the size of library.

In Denton Library with only 2,500 volumes, circulation increased only 38%.
In Thomasville Library with 6,000 volumes, circulation increased 49%.
Lexington Library, 15,500 volumes, increased 349%.

Hypothesis #2 evidence: The Lexington Library graph, middle section, clearly shows that merely genre spine labels also increases circulation. The increase of 68% is much less than separate genre shelving.

Hypothesis #3 evidence: An increasing percentage of patrons use genre shelving to overcome information overload as library size increases.

Hypothesis #3 evidence: As library size increases, patrons' desire for genre shelving and labeling increases from 50% in Denton's 2,500 volume library to over 90% in the larger libraries. Even patrons selecting books from regular shelves overwhelmingly wanted genre shelving.