Books, Movies & More

Find Your Way

Welcome to the Downey City Library! The building is split up into several sections, each specializing in different needs and housing different collection. Click on the various points on the map below to learn more about each part of the library, or click here to get a full view of the building layout.

Search The Collection

There’s several ways to find what you’re looking for:

Use The Catalog

The online catalog is accessible from your phone, tablet or computer, and contains a variety of tools to help narrow down searches and find what you’re looking for. View The Catalog

Ask Our Staff

Trying to find the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series or maybe remember a book from your childhood? Whatever it is, Library staff can help you find what you’re looking for.

Explore The Collection

Peruse through the various shelves of books at your own leisure. Books are organized alphabetically and numerically to help you search efficiently, or you can simply pick one with an interesting cover

Navigate The Collection

Whether you’re looking for something specific or just browsing to see what catches your eye, the collection at the library is organized to make it as easy as possible to find what you’re looking for. Learn more about how each collection is organized below.

Fiction, Movies and Music

Items are generally organized by:

  • Collection Initial

    • (e.g. F for Fiction, M for Mystery, P for Primary, H for Holiday, etc.)

  • Author’s Last Name

  • Author’s First Name

For Music: The artist’s/band’s name goes where the author is supposed to go.

For Movies: Movies are organized alphabetically by title (Batman comes before Shrek, etc.)

Books with Multiple Authors: Books that feature multiple authors use the title of the book (e.g. Invisible Planets)

Big Series Books: Books that are about a famous character or use the name of a famous author use the character’s/author’s name instead of the authors (e.g. Batman, Spiderman, Tom Clancy, etc.)

Some collections like Graphic Novels and Manga might have volume numbers as well to help you find what book comes next in a series.

Biographies

Items are generally organized by:

  • B (initial to indicate it’s a biography)

  • Subject’s Last Name

  • Subject’s First Name

When searching for biographies, look for the person the books is written about, not the author who wrote it. For example, if you’re looking up a biography on Malala, you would look for:

B

Yousafzai,

Malala

Non-Fiction/Reference

Non-Fiction/Reference books are organized using a numbering class system the Dewey Decimal System. Each number class represents a specific topic/genre of non-fiction works (e.g. 300 for Social Science, 800 for Literature, etc.).

Items are generally organized by:

  • Dewey Decimal Number

  • First Three Letters of the Author’s Last Name

Our Test Books use the same system, as do our physical collection of Great Courses discs.

Within each class there exist more subclasses that cover more specific topics within the larger class (such as 530 covering Physics within the larger 500 Science class). Click on each class to see the subclasses that fall under each topic. The classes and subclasses are also attached to the ends of each row of shelves and in-between books to help you navigate the stacks as you search through them.

    • 001 - Knowledge

    • 004 - Data & Computer Systems

    • 005 - Computer Programming, Programs & Data

    • 006 - Computer Applications

    • 020 - Library & Information Sciences

    • 030 - Encyclopedias

    • 060 - Associations, Organizations & Museums

    • 070 - News Media, Journalism & Publishing

    • 080 - Quotations

    • 100 - Philosophy

    • 110 - Metaphysics

    • 120 - Epistemology

    • 130 - Parapsychology & occultism

    • 140 - Philosophical Schools of Thought

    • 150 - Psychology

    • 160 - Logic

    • 170 - Ethics

    • 180 - Ancient, Medieval & Eastern Philosophy

    • 190 Modern Western Philosophy

    • 200 - Religion

    • 210 - Theory of Religion

    • 220 - Bible Studies

    • 230 - Christianity

    • 240 - Christian Practice

    • 250 - Christian Orders

    • 260 - Social & Ecclesiastical Theology

    • 270 - History of Christianity

    • 280 - Christian Denominations

    • 290 - Other Religions

    • 300 - Social Sciences

    • 320 - Political Science

    • 330 - Economics

    • 340 - Law

    • 350 - Administration & Military Science

    • 360 - Social Problems & Services

    • 370 - Education

    • 380 - Commerce, Communication & Transportation

    • 390 - Customs, Etiquette & Folklore

    • 400 - Language

    • 410 - Linguistics

    • 420 - English

    • 430 - German

    • 440 - French

    • 450 - Italian

    • 460 - Spanish

    • 470 - Latin

    • 480 - Greek

    • 490 - Other Languages

    • 500 - Science

    • 510 - Mathematics

    • 520 - Astronomy

    • 530 - Physics

    • 540 - Chemistry

    • 550 - Earth Sciences

    • 560 - Fossils & Prehistoric Life

    • 570 - Biology

    • 580 - Botany

    • 590 - Zoology

    • 600 - Technology

    • 610 - Medicine & Health

    • 620 - Engineering

    • 630 - Agriculture

    • 640 - Home & Family Management

    • 650 - Business

    • 660 - Chemical Engineering

    • 670 - Manufacturing

    • 680 - Manufacture for Specific Uses

    • 690 - Building & Construction

    • 700 - Arts

    • 710 - Landscaping & Area Planning

    • 720 - Architecture

    • 730 - Sculpture, Ceramics & Metalwork

    • 740 - Graphic & Decorative Arts

    • 750 - Painting

    • 760 - Prints & Printmaking

    • 770 - Photography & Computer Art

    • 780 - Music

    • 790 - Sports, Games & Entertainment

    • 800 - Literature, Rhetoric & Criticism

    • 810 - American Literature

    • 820 - English & Old English Literature

    • 830 - German & Related Literature

    • 840 - French & Related Literature

    • 850 - Italian & Related Literature

    • 860 - Spanish & Portuguese Literature

    • 870 - Latin Italic Literature

    • 880 - Classic & Modern Greek Literature

    • 890 - Other Literature

    • 900 - History

    • 910 - Geography & Travel

    • 920 - Biography & Genealogy

    • 930 - Ancient History

    • 940 - European History

    • 950 - Asian History

    • 960 - African History

    • 970 - North American History

    • 980 - South American History

    • 990 - Other History