Recently, I have been reading a number of professional librarian blogs advocating integrating all fiction in a library into one alphabetical run. That way the librarians and the customers only have one place to check for a particular author or title. I've also read a number of postings suggesting just the opposite, that most fiction titles are best separated by genre like in a bookstore. That's what people are used to, say the authors, and they don't want to have to seach the whole fiction collection for a single mystery title.

Here at the Nashua Public Library we try to strike a balance. We place most fiction in one area but we do separate out some of our most popular genres like Mysteries, Westerns, Romance paperbacks, Science Fiction, Foreign Language, Large Print and Christian Fiction.

We hope this approach serves your needs but we would be interested in hearing your opinion one way or the other,