Virginia Bynum
June 6, 2024, was the 80th anniversary of D-Day! World War II (WWII) history books are the most popular nonfiction titles in your SaddleBrooke Community Libraries. Patrons have shown extraordinary interest in all matters relating to World War II. Because the nonfiction section is organized by subject, this is a good time for a “how-to” that will help you locate World War II books.
You may remember the Dewey Decimal System from your school days. This system assigns call numbers to various subjects. Once you know the call numbers associated with the topic you are interested in, you can go right to that number in the nonfiction section to find that topic. Search the online catalog at sblibraries.com by entering the call number in the search box at the top of the webpage. All books will be listed so that you can review the entire collection.
World War II has four major call numbers assigned to it. Here are the numbers and example titles owned by our libraries.
940.53, general history of World War II, The Allies: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II, by Winston Groom
940.54, military history of WWII, Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever, by Rachel Lance
943, history and geography/Europe/Germany and Central Europe, D Day Through German Eyes: The Hidden Story of June 6th 1944, by Holger Eckhertz
973.918, history and geography/North America/Truman Administration, Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World, by Chris Wallace with Mitch Weiss
In addition, more WWII history can be found under Espionage, call number 327, with titles such as Ghosts of Honolulu: a Japanese Spy, a Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll, Jr., and Beverly Hills Spy: The Double-Agent War Hero Who Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor, by Ronald Drabkin.
Biographies of both major and minor figures in the war can be found under 921. Titles include The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History, by Boris Johnson, and The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America, by Christopher C. Gorham.
Many more titles can be found with more call numbers if you search the online catalog by keyword and subject. Searching simply by World War II may not be as fruitful as searching by World War, 1939-1945. The Library of Congress has dictated specific phrasing used for subjects in library cataloging. Some useful terms to remember are World War, 1939-1945 Military History, and World War, 1939-1945 Naval Operations. Also search for Holocaust and World War, 1939-1945 Prisoners and Prisons German (or Japanese).
The Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries (FSL) provide the funding to purchase new books, DVDs, and audiobooks for the SaddleBrooke Community Libraries. If you are not a member of FSL, learn more at their website www.sbfsl.org.