molly's guide to cyberpunk gardening

that hot librarian content you crave, part 3: shelf ranges

My library shelves are organized by genre. There about 14 subdivisions. Within each subdivision, books are arranged alphabetically by author's last name.

Each shelf has a tag indicating its range (which authors, alphabetically, are on each shelf). The ranges use the last three letters of the authors' last names, since that's what is also on the spine label.

All this creates a lot of opportunities for shelf ranges to spell silly things.

I re-did the range tags for most of the fiction today. Some of my favorite new range options:

ABB-BEY

KAL-LOW

OPA-QUE

CIA-DOA

GOT-HER

SMI-THI

ADA-BRO

DEL-ETE

FAL-GUY

RAD-SHY

LOC-NES

GOO-HUG

KIT-LOB

REE-SET

The reshuffle eliminated my previous favorites, PAR-ROT and ACE-BRO. I also had the good sense to (narrowly) avoid a BRA-CUP (now BRA-CUR). This is a high school, after all. I am waiting for a student to giggle over DAH-GOD and the range that ends in -FUQ, however. (It is not my fault J. Scott Fuqua's last name is spelled that way and The Reappearance of Sam Webber is the last horror/suspense/mystery novel we have that ends in F - one of a group of F-last-named authors that just so happens to fit perfectly on a shelf together!)

LOC-NES is, appropriately, in the science fiction section. In case you were wondering. GOT-HER is also, appropriately, in the romance/relationships section. (GOO-HUG is in historical fiction.)

No, librarians don't usually force ranges to be silly. Yes, we absolutely do giggle over them when they happen. We also laugh when we're making spine labels that spell silly or rude words. (I particularly enjoyed FIC POO.)

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