Genres and Formats

Check out this video to learn more about genres and formats.

Genre is a word that gets thrown around a lot on libraries and reading circles, but it is often misused. There are only two genres: fiction and nonfiction. Everything else is a subgenre, topic, or category.

Some libraries are “genrefying” meaning that librarians are placing books into categories such as dystopia, chick lit, humor, paranormal, etc. While some librarians say that this boosts circulation, it has its drawbacks. By shelving books into categories like these, it can discourage patrons from reading books from certain categories. Dr. Perry’s example is the Twilight series. Though both male and female readers have enjoyed this series, if the novels were placed in a “chick lit” section of the library, males might be discouraged from checking them out.

That being said, let’s discuss the correct genres and subgenres that should be represented within a library.

Fiction is divided into two subgenres: realism and fantasy. Realism includes realistic modern contemporary and historical. The fantasy side of fiction includes traditional fantasy such as fables, myths, and legends, and the modern side of fantasy which includes high and low fantasy and hard and soft science fiction. These are terms which should be used and taught to students in order for them to better articulate what they like, dislike, or are looking for in reading material. High fantasy means that the book is set in a new world such as the Lord of the Rings series, and low fantasy means that there are fantastical elements within a more realistic setting, such as Paddington which is set in real-world London but has a talking, marmalade-eating bear as the main character. Hard science fiction is focused mostly on the science aspect of the book, whereas soft science fiction focuses mostly on characters, like “Ender’s Game” which follows Ender’s character as he matures throughout his training in the novel.

Nonfiction is divided into three types of informational texts: biography, narrative nonfiction, and expository nonfiction. All three deliver facts, but narrative nonfiction books read more like a story and biography, autobiography, and memoirs focus on the facts in one person’s life.

You may be wondering when I am going to mention graphic novels or poetry. Though you may have seen these texts grouped together as a “genre” in libraries, they are actually considered formats. Other formats include picture books, drama, chapter books, and short stories. These are formats because they can be written for any genre. A graphic novel can be historical fiction, a biography, or soft science fiction. It makes the most sense to group all texts with their designated genre and to simply show patrons looking to read a specific format how to narrow their search for that using the online catalog.