We have been shifting a lot of our campus library collections to make the flow better, increase visibility or physically make more room. In the process we often come up against an entire section of Reference books that are on shelves by themselves and not used very often. When I visit those campuses I ask the librarian what they think about taking some (or most) of the Reference books and inter-filing them with the traditional NF. I usually get a resounding, I didn’t know that was possible!  Not only do I want our librarians to know it is possible but I also want them to realize it will make those valuable texts more accessible if it is in a less “threatening” area of the library.

Texas did not adopt the Common Core but in that document there is a push for literary nonfiction that contains informational text and not just narrative nonfiction (think biographies).  I see the previously quarantined Reference books as valuable informational text whether you use Common Core or not. 

Pull the Reference labels off those books, correct the call number in the catalog and set them free!