Our library will soon be following a growing trend in Australia and reorganising our fiction collection into genres rather than alphabetical order.

While this will suit those who come to browse books within their preferred genre, it may cause some confusion in those who wish to browse simply by author.

Many authors write within one genre, but of course, many do not. 

The way the books have been classified may also cause some confusion.  Some novels fall into two or more different genres, and this calls for consistency in classification - not only within one network of libraries, but across libraries nation-wide.  For instance, the Sherlock Homes series could be detective fiction, historical fiction or simply crime fiction.

Where do we draw the line between genres, and how does this affect not only the public's perceptions of the work, but also the way they browse for their favourite stories across Libraries nation-wide?