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The New York Public Library is now organizing books by size

Written by
Rebecca Fontana
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The New York Public Library is now organizing books by size, and no, it’s not a plan to make the shelves in the gorgeous Rose Reading Room as optimized for Instagram as possible.

The library actually has four million research books stored underneath Bryant Park in a secret place that’s forbidden to the public. And as any bibliophile knows, the worst part about books is that they fill up your shelves way too quickly. (Also, nobody ever wants to help you carry boxes when you move.)

So the library decided to scrap the Dewey Decimal System and instead reorganize books by size. Now a tome on the Revolutionary War could wind up next to a self-published book of cheesy love poems, but hey, the library now has 40 percent more storage. Worth it.

Librarians can still easily find books using an electronic card catalogue and barcodes on each book. And don’t forget that you can also download over 300,000 books directly to your phone without even setting foot in the library.

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