Items in the various collections of the Alvin Sherman Library are arranged on the shelf using different classification and call number systems.
Most items are shelved according to call numbers from the Library of Congress Classification System. This includes most of the circulating collection located on the third and fourth floors and the reference collection on the second floor.
The popular, children's , and young adult collections use the Dewey Decimal Classification System. Popular fiction is arranged in alphabetical order by author, while all periodicals are arranged in alphabetical order by title.
CDs and cassettes are catalogued by the ANSCR system (Alpha Numeric System for Classification of Recordings).