At first glance, it may seem as if academic libraries don't contain "leisure reading," but they certainly do!
While Collins Memorial Library doesn't have a "fiction" section, like you might find at your local bookstore or public library, you can still use PRIMO to find contemporary, popular fiction.
"Fiction expands us. Novels bring proximity to worlds and lives and voices that we may not have been aware of, taking us from what we know into what we can only imagine. They renew language, change the shape of storytelling and above everything else bring deep and enduring pleasure." — Edmund de Waal, Chair of the Booker Prize 2024 judges
Academic libraries use the Library of Congress system to classify and shelve books. In the LC system, fiction is shelved according to the author's country of origin and time period with literary criticisms and translations shelved with the novels. This means that that all the works by a particular author are going to be shelved together. It also means that any books written about an author are going to be shelved with books written by the author. While this can be handy for research, it can make browsing for fun more complicated!
See the examples below for ways to search the Collins' collection for fiction titles.
Browsing the shelf can help you discover authors and titles you never knew existed! Most fiction can be found in the Ps, on the 3rd and 4th floors of Collins Memorial Library. Here's a breakdown of some of the most common classification areas:
PN3427- 3448 Fiction genres (including science fiction, romance, historical fiction, and mysteries)
PN 6700 - 6790 Comic books (including graphic novels)
PR English literature
PS American literature
PZ Juvenile (and Young Adult) Literature
An author search can help focus your search results on books written by your favorite author, rather than about them. Using the Advanced Search in PRIMO, change the filter to "Author/creator" and add the author's name.
You may also want to limit your search to the Collins Library "scope," to ensure that you are finding books that are currently in our collection.
A genre search is a great way to find your favorite type of fiction in the Collins' collection.
On the Advanced Search page, change the filter to "Genre" and then use a keyword that describes the type of fiction you are looking for -- e.g., "mystery," "science fiction," "fantasy" or "romance."
Again, you may want to limit the scope of your search to Collins only.
The public library has extensive leisure reading collections, and locations throughout the city of Tacoma.
All city of Tacoma residents are eligible for a free card, as are those who meet any of the following criteria.
Apply for a Tacoma Public Library card here:
