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Children's & Young Adult Literature

WorldCat (Library Catalog) Search Recommendations

Tips for using A&M-SA's Library Catalog -- See the Tabbed Search Box

  • The Catalog is a great tool for searching for e-books, print books, and multimedia.

  • When looking for peer reviewed articles, the [other] library databases usually offer better search options, such as more precise filters for narrowing results. (See the Find Articles page.)

Search A&M-SA's Library Catalog

Catalog Search - JUV Collection

Steps for Doing a Keyword Search for Children's Books at A&M-SA

  1. Use the Library Catalog Search (See above) and enter keywords to describe your topic. Example: Let's say that I am looking for children's stories related to starting school or going to a new school. I could enter the words "starting school."
  2. Click the Search button.
  3. Use the options (called filters) in the left column to narrow down your list of results. Mark the boxes for Texas A&M University-San Antonio Library, Print Book, and Juvenile (under Audience).
  4. You can use other filters if you want to limit to a specific publication date range, language, etc.
  5. Your results appear in a list in the main part of the page.
  6. Click on the title link to learn more about the book, to see if it is available for checkout, and to place a hold for pickup.

Special Tip

Library of Congress Classification (LOC) Locates the Book on the Shelves

  • Knowing this can help you browse for children's books by topic
  • For example, if you are looking for a children's book covering an event in American history, you would look in the E's.
  • Skimming the shelves in the E section, you may come across the book, Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the dawn of liberty by Tonya Bolden.
  • It displays the call number JUV E453 .B68 2013. Note: All the children's books are classified under JUV for "Juvenile" which is why the call number begins with JUV.
  • See the Library of Congress Classification Outline for a more complete guide to how books are organized by topic.
  • For more information on how to locate a book on the shelves (for LOC call numbers), view the video from Portland State University Library below to get the basic idea.
  • Note: Most school and public libraries use the Dewey Decimal classification system, which is somewhat different.