Life is full of tough topics. At the library, we specialize in finding the resources you need and we are non-judgemental about what those resources are. That said, we also understand that asking a stranger or (sometimes worse) someone you know for help with a very personal topic is uncomfortable. We’re working on several Tough Topics Finders in the building, but I’d like to give a preview now.
Our official finders will include more topics and the dewey decimal numbers in this list are not exhaustive, but this will get you started. If you would rather use the catalog to find your own materials, the labels for each topic are also good search terms.
Abuse: 362.7
Abusive Relationships: 616.85
Death and/or Grief: 155.9; 248.8
Depression: 616.85
Grief and/or Death: 155.9; 248.8
LGBT and/or LGBTQ+: 306.76
Relationships: 306.7
Suicide: 362.28
Trauma: 616.85
Using our catalog will also yield fiction books, which can be a lot to slog through. One way to narrow down your search results is to use the menu on the left-hand side of your results. If you can’t find it, look for a “Refine Search” tab on the left side of your screen.
There you can choose whether you want downloadable materials, what collection or dewey range you’d like (“material type”), and whether to show only checked in (“availability”) items. You can also limit by subject.
When one of our staff experienced the loss of her husband, she found good books on grief that we don’t own. Like we did with her, we will track down books in other libraries if you need us to. This is our Inter-Library Loan or ILL (pronounced “eye-ell-ell”) service.
Our goal is to help you find resources. We are bound by professional ethics and state law to keep your library use private, so if you feel comfortable asking, we’ll do all we can and it will stay between us.