St. Joseph Public Library showcasing new ‘blocks and streets’ method at Downtown Branch
News Press Now St. Joseph Public Library showcasing new ‘blocks and streets’ method at Downtown Branch Carter Gallowayn, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo. Fri, August 7, 2026 at 12:33 AM UTC 2 min read Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Dewey Decimal System has long been a staple in public library systems, helping visitors navigate a vast collection and find the exact book they need. However, the Downtown Branch of the St. Joseph Public Library is trying a new way to guide readers to their next book.
After 14 months of hard work, the Downtown Branch has organized its adult non-fiction section with a new “blocks and streets” system. The collection will feature nine different thematic “blocks” which will be broken down into “streets” or subcategories.
“There’s no more guessing of whether this title pertains to what you’re looking for or not,” Paula Hayward, a reference librarian told the News-Press. “So if you’re looking for history books on medieval history, they’re all going to be in one section. It allows you more time to flip through the books that you want to look at, not necessarily flipping through books that aren’t relevant.”
Advertisement Advertisement Following the reorganization of their collection, the branch has seen an 156% increase in checkouts. One thing the new system does is eliminate the awkwardness of the Dewey Decimal System.
“We had two Walt Disney travel guides next to a book about the Trail of Tears because that’s the way Dewey had them listed” said Hayward. “The travel guides are now under travel guides and history is under history.”
Due to the age of Dewey, which was created in 1876, some ideas have been sorted as outdated ways of thinking. For instance, psychology had found itself categorized with general philosophy. In the new blocks and streets system, psychology is under health and medicine and philosophy is under history and culture.
The nine blocks within the library are Fine Arts and Literature, Hobbies and Sports, Home and Garden, Food and Drink, Health and Medicine, Self-Help and Spirituality, Nature and Stem, Careers and Education and finally History and Culture. There are roughly 150 streets between the nine blocks.
Advertisement Advertisement To celebrate and promote the new organization, the Downtown Branch will host a series of programs to showcase the system. A welcoming “Block Party” is scheduled for at noon on Sunday, Aug. 9. There will be a program on knitting at 3 p.m. on Aug. 10 followed by an indoor nature study at 3 p.m. on Aug. 11. At 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, visitors can practicing writing with “Wacky Writing Prompts.” The programs will conclude with the history lesson on the Eden Musee, a popular Dime Museum in the late 1800s, set for 1 p.m. on Friday Aug. 14.
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