Contents
Cal Poly Pomona

When You Can't Find a Book on the Shelf

  1. First, make  sure that the item you want is not checked out. Look for the status notation "NOT CHECKED OUT " before looking for the book.
    Call number order display

 

  1. Make sure that you were in the correct part of the collection for the call number. Finding a book on the shelf depends on knowing how to read call numbers correctly. The trick is to remember that the second line is a whole number and the third line is a decimal.

    2. Call number order display
    Image Copyright 2002-3 New York University Division of Libraries.  Permission is granted for nonprofit educational uses of this image.  All other uses require permission from the publisher.

    It also helps to know how the shelves are ordered. There is a set of detailed floor maps with the call number  locations which will help you find the appropriate shelf.

  2. Check in the Sorting Areas on the appropriate floor. The sorting areas are where items are gathered and put in order before being shelved.  You might catch the item in transit (it may have just been returned or had been used somewhere in the building) in the sorting areas. You can find the sorting areas on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors in the North East corner of the building. This 5 th floor map (below) shows which corner to seek. (As you come out of the elevator or the stairs, head towards the far corner of the building in the 2 o'clock direction).

    3. Fourth Floor Map showing the Sorting Area

  3. If after you have checked the sorting area, and still not found the item, come to the 2nd floor Circulation Desk. We can initiate a search for the item on your behalf.

  Circulation Services
(909) 869-3075