LBCC uses the Library of Congress Classification System (LCC) to organize our collection.
LCC uses a combination of the alphabet and numbers to organize items into categories and subcategories. There are 21 categories further divided into subcategories. This guide provides a brief overview of the categories and how to read library call numbers.
The following lists contain the main categories and some frequently asked for subcategories.
A-General Works
B-Philosophy, Psychology, Religion
B-Philosophy (general)
BF-Psychology
BL- Religion. Mythology. Rationalism.
C-Auxiliary Fields of History
CC-Archaeology
CS-Genealogy
D- History (General and Old World)
DA-Great Britain
DS-Asia
DT-Africa
DU-Oceania (South Seas)
E-History of the Americas
F-History (local US and the Americas)
G- Geography, Anthropology, Recreation
GE-Environmental Sciences.
GN-Anthropology
GR-Folklore
H-Social Sciences
HA-Statistics
HB/HC-Economics
HG-Finance
HM-Sociology
J-Political Science
JA-Political Science
JS-Local Government
JZ-International Relations.
K-Law
KF-United States
L-Education
LC-Special aspects of education
LT-Textbooks
Every item in the library has a unique call number used to find the item.
Call numbers on the library catalog will be horizontal
example: HM 646.P54 2022
Call numbers on a book’s spine (or sometimes the front cover if the book is very thin) will be vertical
example:
HM
646
.P54
2022
M-Music and Books on Music
N-Fine Arts
NA-Architecture
NC-Drawing. Design. Illustration.
ND-Painting
P-Language and Literature
PB-Modern languages
PC-Romance languages
PN-Literature
PS-American Literature
PZ-Fiction and juvenile literature
Q-Science
QA-Mathematics
QB-Astronomy
QC-Physics
QD-Chemistry
QM-Human anatomy
QR-Microbiology
R-Medicine
RB-Pathology
RJ-Pediatrics
RK-Dentistry
RS-Pharmacy
RT-Nursing
S-Agriculture
SB-Plant culture
SD-Forestry
SF-Animal culture
SH-Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling.
SK-Hunting sports.
T-Technology
TJ-Mechanical engineering and machinery
TK-Electrical engineering
TL-Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics.
TT-Handicrafts. Arts and crafts.
TX-Home economics.
U-Military Science
V-Naval Science
Z-Bibliography: Library Science
An example call number with a description of each line.
HM-the subject area, on the shelf in alphabetical order
646-numbers narrow down within the subject, placed in numerical order within the HM section
.P54-a letter number combination often used to represent the author’s last name, placed on shelf in alphabetical order and then numerical order
2022-year of publication
Look for items alphabetically. An item with only one letter (example: T) will be found before an item with two letters (example: TA).
Read the second line as a whole number unless there is a decimal point in which case read it as a decimal.