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Does it Matter What a Book is Classified As?


AbielleRose

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Last night at work I was doing a scavenger hunt to help me learn the layout of the bookstore when I came across a small display in the Children's section for Non-Fiction books. Under this section, among young reader's National Geographic and biography books I discovered a few that sort ot puzzled me- Star Wars books. Now I don't have a problem with kids getting into Star Wars or any sort of Sci Fi one bit, but why on earth were these placed in Non-Fiction? Thinking it was just an error, I checked the computers only to discover these particular Star Wars books were indeed listed under Childrens NON- Fiction.

 

Tonight I'm going to speak with my manager to try and get a better idea as to why they are there, but was wondering what you all, as frequent book store visitors (and parents!) would think if you saw that particular display or one like it where the book was clearly not being shelved in the proper spot by a store or library. Would you say something? Would it affect your opinion of the store?

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I probably wouldn't say anything, unless it was a category in which I have particular interest.

 

I would however, consider the store manager to be an idiot if such a glaring mis shelving had taken place.

 

Non-fiction? As in 'it is fact'? Oh dear. Either someone has a marvellous sense of humour, or they are deadly serious about the existence of Jedi Knights, or they are just idiots who have no business running a book store. I'm not sure which on I want it to be. :giggle2:

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Yeah I agree, star wars is definately not "non-fiction" lol It wouldn't annoy me though, unless I was looking for something in particular and I couldn't find it because it was in the wrong section. Then again, if it was placed there by mistake I wouldn't really be bothered either, but that is a definate mistake that no owner of a bookstore should make. Especially with childrens books...I mean some children out there are going around thinking that star wars is a true story lol It sounds like fun, I hope they don't learn the truth too soon :lol:

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You sure they ain't movie companion books? Or about the Star Wars Universe, writers, etc as opposed to set IN the Star Wars Universe? They're not fiction if they're informational books.

 

I was wondering that; there are a number of Star Wars branded non-fiction books about the universe and astronomy etc.

 

A classic example I saw in a local book shop, I couldn't believe they had actually put zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance with the car maintenance books. I thought everyone knew what it was about.

 

Pff, idiots - it should clearly be in the motorcycle section!

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You sure they ain't movie companion books? Or about the Star Wars Universe, writers, etc as opposed to set IN the Star Wars Universe? They're not fiction if they're informational books.

 

 

 

They should just be in Fantasy/Science Fiction, just like the Tolkien companion books, or any of the other sci-fi and fantasy series companions. It's still fiction, as it's made up.

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You sure they ain't movie companion books? Or about the Star Wars Universe, writers, etc as opposed to set IN the Star Wars Universe? They're not fiction if they're informational books.

 

 

 

I checked again tonight and they are actually the Star Wars novels. Not only should they not be in the non-fiction section but they should not be in the under-preschool children's section! I told the managers and apparently they just rearranged the whole store a couple of weeks ago and those must have just gotten misplaced.

 

It is a bit odd to see where some books end up, particularly in the Classics section. Who actually decides what a classic is and how long does a book have to be on the market before being labled as such? The only reason I'm curious is because the Harry Potter series is not in the YA or Fantasy sections (as I would have expected), It's in the classics section. That's fine, I agree because it is definitely something that will live on for generations, but it seems a bit premature to have it placed there.

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Wow, your store has a strange way of organising their books Abby! I'm sure you'll have it sorted in no time for them. :wink: I don't think Harry Potter belongs anywhere near the classics section.

 

In one near-by bookstore the only books they have in the classics sections are those that have been published in a classics range (like Wordsworth Classics, the black Penuin Moderns etc). I think that's a pretty good and easy way of sorting them. However another branch of the same store arranges them a bit differently, combining lots of classics (probably all written before the 50s or 60s I think).

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I checked again tonight and they are actually the Star Wars novels. Not only should they not be in the non-fiction section but they should not be in the under-preschool children's section! I told the managers and apparently they just rearranged the whole store a couple of weeks ago and those must have just gotten misplaced.

 

It is a bit odd to see where some books end up, particularly in the Classics section. Who actually decides what a classic is and how long does a book have to be on the market before being labled as such? The only reason I'm curious is because the Harry Potter series is not in the YA or Fantasy sections (as I would have expected), It's in the classics section. That's fine, I agree because it is definitely something that will live on for generations, but it seems a bit premature to have it placed there.

 

I would leave Harry Potter in the YA section, along with Twilight and all the other recent TA fantasy series. They may be popular, but they are definitely not "classics". I'm sorry, but J.K. Rowling doesn't rank up there with Shakespeare, Austen, or Dickens in my opinion.

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The only mis-classification that bothers me is when authors who write for children, YA and adults, and their adult books get put in the children's or YA sections. I'm forever finding Meg Cabot's books she writes for adults in the childrens section, and I have to point it out to a member of staff.

 

Other than that, it doesn't really make much difference to me, but I've said before, I really wish there was just one Fiction section rather than splitting it out into all the multitude of genres they use nowadays.

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Oh I agree on that I'd love to have one fiction section. Sometimes I don't know where to look for a book as it's somewhere in between genres, and then it's just guessing where that particular bookstore placed the book. :rolleyes:

 

But Star Wars in non-fiction. Hehe. Maybe the one who did that has him some lightsabers and Jedi outfits at home and it's just some wishful thinking?

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Other than that, it doesn't really make much difference to me, but I've said before, I really wish there was just one Fiction section rather than splitting it out into all the multitude of genres they use nowadays.

It's not just Fiction, there are now so many books out there about peoples abusive childhoods etc that instead of putting them in the autobiography section some book shops have a section labeled TRAGIC LIVES. Oh and a little moan of mine with all the multitude of genres in fiction you see in bookshops these days what ever happened to Westerns? If there is now a section for even ROMANTIC HORROR if I want to I want to be able to walk into a bookshop and buy a Zane Grey, his son Romer, Louis L'Amour or even an Elmore Leonard. I know, I know, it's a dying genre and bookshops only have so much space, but if shops don't stock them people can't buy them and I know they are mostly pulp novels but sometimes you don't always fancy the Ribeye with all the trimmings sometimes you just fancy a cheap burger with mustard and relish.

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Star Wars novels belong in the sci-fi/fantasy fiction section, or if you have a movie/,media section, perhaps there.

 

Harry Potter belongs in the children's fantasy section, not classics.

 

I always find it odd how commonly-known books get so badly misclassified!

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My inner librarian being as neat as she is, I cannot bear to see a book mis-shelved, to the point that if there's no bookseller at hand I'll move it to the correct alphabetical position on the correct shelf myself. If a bookseller is at hand, I will politely but resolutely direct their attention to the mistake. I once found The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters in the YA section of Forbidden Planet...!

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