preposterous panic

Today I encountered a bit of panic.

I went to the Harold Washington Library to take out some light reading. I had tried the Reg. but all of the books that I wanted were all checked out (of all the rummy things). So off I went to check out some books. I looked them up, not checked out! hooray! 7th floor fiction it says. I get there and double check the catalogue so I can get the call number, and there was no call number. All it says is 7th floor fiction. But, how on earth am I to find it with out a call number?! I was actually hit by a wave of what someone may call existential panic (Scheer is the someone). All books have call numbers! that's how you find them! You mean to say you're going to let me loose on a floor of books without any indication of how to find the one that I wanted?!

I wandered dazed for approximately 2 minutes (in all seriousness I did). I couldn't even find the fiction. I circled and wondered who would set a library up with out the comforting clarity of call numbers. Finally after wandering through foreign languages and Large print fiction I found the fiction. Ah says I; by last name of author. Now that's a terrible way to find a book by someone with the last name of Hamilton.

I found all my books, but was actually shaken. Why?! Why should it disturb and confuse me so that the books were alphabetized? That is in fact how they did fiction at the public library where I grew up if I recall correctly. It's simply that the Reg. is absolutely regimented by call number, and it's nice to know just where a book will be.

However, it is much easier to browse books at the HWL than the Reg.

it should be noted, that Alphabetization has been a bane of my existence since...oh...third grade. I'm just not very good at it.