Say goodbye to the Dewey Decimal system at these metro Atlanta libraries

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A radical makeover at Gwinnett County libraries should make it a lot easier to find and check out books, administrators say.

This week, the county is getting rid of the age-old Dewey Decimal System.

Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen was in Lilburn, where libraries will be shut down for three days this week as employees work to make the changes. Administrators say the new catalog system will be more like those of big book retailers like Barnes and Noble.

Gwinnett County libraries are part of just a handful of libraries across the country to drop the Dewey Decimal system.

Victoria Montes De Oca Perez, a branch manager with Gwinnett County libraries, has spent much of her life in libraries, places where things have been done the same way for nearly 150 years.

“You know, you have those people who have a nostalgia factor, who used the card catalog when they were in grade school,” she said. “And they looked up the item by the Dewey number. And they know the certain Dewey numbers.”

The Dewey Decimal system was created in 1876 by Melvil Dewey as a way to sort books. It’s used in more than 100 countries.

"I think it's important to point out that the system was developed in the era of 'closed stacks,' When you'd take a slip to the librarian, and they'd go into a room and retrieve the book for you," Montes De Oca Perez said.

Because library patrons can now find books for themselves and have for decades, each and every book in the 15 county library branches are being re-labeled. More than half a million titles will now be organized by words.

"If you want a book on French cooking, you go to the cooking section and look for 'French,' instead of searching for the book by numbers, Montes De Oca Perez said.

Libraries will re-open on Thursday.

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