The Jones College Prep Library Task Force plans to reorganize the library, shifting from arranging books from author last name to type of genre. Instead of spending time searching the aisles for a book in their desired genre, students will be able to go straight to the section where said genre is.

“Mr. Feeley came up to me and said ‘Hey, help me out with this idea I have,’” said Library Task Force co-founder Atlas Salomon ‘26. “It was Mr. Feeley’s idea to genrefy the fiction, but I sort of run things, I try to help bring us together and just get things into order.”

As school librarian, Francis Feeley’s responsibilities are constant and his expectations are high. He noticed the trend of genrefication and its benefits in other schools and decided to hop on the “genre train”.

“I think it’s my responsibility to lay books in people’s paths by having displays, events or programming to get those books out,” said Feeley. “A lot of my fellow high school and elementary schools have done genrefication, and the results are very clear that circulation goes way up.”

Not judging a book from its cover reflects one of the many virtues people learn from a young age, but when seeking out students who don’t read much, it’s important to create a comfortable environment.

“Well the first goal was user friendliness, quality of life improvement. It becomes easier to get books out and put them in people’s paths,” said Salomon. “It’s a little easier to judge a book by its cover, which is not what you want to do, but when it comes to trying to get people to read books, you can make a lower barrier for entry.”

The Task Force recognizes that many incoming students didn’t have prior access to a library, arranging books by genres can make those specific students less intimidated. 

“Most of the kids coming in didn’t have any experience at libraries, so now when they show up and see all these beautiful books it’s overwhelming and really difficult to judge one or the other without more data,” said Feeley. “By genrefying the library, people in the community will have these easy structures.” 

This genrefication will hopefully allow students to find books in genres they already enjoy, or discover new types of genres to love.

“It’s about boosting circulation, and by becoming exposed to a distinct number of genres, some students may find that one or two or three of them are their favorites, and that may be what they read for the rest of their lives,” said Feeley.

With about 8,000 books in the library, the sorting process has progressed at a steady pace.

“The actual organization has been going pretty smoothly, we’re currently on 287 books genrefied,” said Salomon. “We formally started about a month ago. Ideally we’d get it done by May, even better if it gets done sooner and we can manage to pull that amount of time and effort out of ourselves.”

The process gradually gets faster though, with new members joining. 

“I decided to join because when I first heard about it seemed like a great way to interact with books and connect myself to the library, it seemed like a good way to merge into a community,” said Temilola Folayemi ‘27, one of the many new members to join the Library Task Force.

Sorting the library comes with the specific task of interpreting a book’s genre just from the synopsis or by the text on the first few pages. Taking a glimpse at some of the wide variety of books in the JCP Library, creates a unique experience for these sorters, and hopefully an easier experience for future students coming in.

“I have spent a lot of time building books and putting them back on shelves, but there’s something about examining a book for about three or four minutes, it’s kind of cool and there’s a sense of reward,” said Feeley. “Your interaction is just enough to make the decision and know a little more than what you will glean just by looking at the cover. This is directed to book lovers, that’s what we’re looking for, but of course we’re looking for anybody and everybody.”