Floor Plan
The Working Library's collections are arranged over six floors, including a basement. The table below shows the location of the different subject areas within the Library. The letters in brackets after the subject relate to the Library of Congress Classification Scheme used to arrange the majority of the Library's books and journals.
Ground floor |
|
Mezzanine |
|
First Floor |
Garden Wing:
Penrose Section (linking Main and Turret stairs):
Chapel Wing:
|
Second Floor |
Garden Wing:
Penrose Section (linking Main and Turret stairs):
Chapel Wing:
|
Third Floor |
Garden Wing:
Chapel Wing:
|
Basement
Some older volumes are shelved in the open access store in the Basement, which is accessible 24 hours a day. Please ask a member of the Library staff if you need any assistance. More fragile items, some special collections, and books published before 1850 are kept in the closed access store. If you wish to consult any items from there, please ask a member of staff.
Library of Congress Classification Scheme
The Library arranges its collections of books and bound periodicals according to the Library of Congress Classification Scheme. Each book has a classmark consisting of letters and numbers, which indicate its subject and determine where it is filed on the shelf.
The code usually begins with two letters:
- The first letter indicates the broad subject. For example, all D books (History) are on the Second Floor.
- The second letter specifies a narrower subject area within the broad subject. For example, within History (D), DA indicates British History.
- The next part of the classmark is a number, which gives a more precise definition of subject matter. Within a subject section, books are filed numerically, so DA 84 comes before DA 86, which comes before DA 226.
- The final part of the classmark refers to the author's name. It normally consists of a letter and a number. This part is filed in alphabetical order by letter, then by number in a decimal sequence, i.e. DA 84.C3 precedes DA 84.C35, which precedes DA 84.C4.
In practice, classmarks may be more complex, with extra letters and numbers giving a more precise definition of subject matter. In each case, read along the classmark, taking each element separated by a full stop as a separate unit.
The following list gives a more detailed breakdown of subjects and their classmarks