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Finding a Book on the Shelf Using the Call Number

Books are shelved left to right, following the alphabet and numbers. To get this book from CUNY+:

graphic showing how to read the holdings part of the catalog record

The first line represents the subject area. The P's are Language and Literature. Most books have one or two letters. The order of the P's will be P, followed by PA, PB, PC, etc., up to PZ.

graphic showing how to read the holdings part of the catalog record

This shelving system is called Library of Congress.