We hear this question a lot at the Information Desk. Ask a simple question, get a simple answer, right? Well, the simple answer to this one is basically – we don’t have one. Or rather, we don’t have ONE. In fact, there are many places in the Eisenhower Library to find fiction.

You can start with the McNaughton books on M Level. This is a small up-to-date collection of popular, contemporary fiction (and non-fiction), in a convenient browsing area. Check out the McNaughton DVD’s right next to it.

If you want to get to “serious fiction”, the library’s general collections hold thousands of volumes; from medieval romances to 21st century experimental fiction. The hitch is – there is no single place in the stacks where you can find it all. Our books are arranged by Library of Congress call number. This means you have to look more or less by country. German fiction, Italian fiction, British fiction, and American fiction will each have a different call number, and thus a different location. And note that we often buy fiction in both the original language AND English translation.

What to do? Well, the first thing to do is head down to D Level, to the Blue Label section. And from there, you will need to look in the various call number ranges. Here they are in a nutshell:

American: PS 3550-3626
British: PR 6050-6126
French: PQ 2660-2686
German: PT 2600-2688
Italian: PQ 4860-4926
Russian: PG 3475-3490
Latin American: PQ 7000-8560
Spanish: PQ 6651-6726
Caribbean, African, Indian: PR 9205-9570
Chinese: PL 2261-2979
Japanese: PL 782-866
Hebrew: PJ 5050-5055.51
Korean: PL 989-993
Canadian: PR 9199.2-9199.3

So next time you’re looking for a good read, go exploring on D Level! Or ask a librarian. We are always happy to share our reading tips.


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