Discover@UMSL

First, a caveat: TJ Library prioritizes buying books that have value to researchers, so current popular fiction is not a common purchase. Although we do have some fiction, it’s not organized in the same way fiction at a public library is, and we don't have fiction databases that lend themselves to browsing and discovery. You often need to know what you’re looking for before you begin a search.

So what are your options? Luckily, you have a few!

• Visit TJ Library in person to browse the New Books and Bestsellers sections on Level 3 (see  2  below) or speak with a librarian.
• Check out our New Arrivals guide for books currently in the Bestsellers collection.
• Use MOBIUS to search a more extensive, regional catalog that includes books held by St. Louis County Library (SLCL), as well as numerous other public and academic libraries.
• Become a SLCL cardholder and visit a branch to browse their shelves and get recommendations from librarians familiar with popular fiction. All UMSL students, regardless of permanent address, are eligible for a free, “special” SLCL card .

 1   If you want to browse books by topic, an Advanced Search will offer the best results.

 A   Start by clicking the Advanced Search button on the library homepage. If prompted, log in using your SSO ID and password.

 B   On the Advanced Search page, you'll see 3 search boxes. Type fiction in the top search box and change its field to Subject Terms - SU. This will limit your search for the word fiction to the list of subjects included for each item.

 C   In the search bar for the second line, add additional keywords that will help narrow the search to the type of fiction you want to find. Separate any related terms with the word OR. You can add keywords in the third line as well—but the more lines you add, the fewer results you’ll get. Examples of keywords you might include in either search box:

• a specific genre (e.g., mystery, young adult, psychological thriller)
• a type of character (e.g., black woman, assassin)
• a time period or location (e.g., Vietnam war, Syria)
• a fiction trope or literary convention (e.g., time travel, amnesia, revenge)
• part of an author’s name (e.g., Sarah J Maas, Patterson)

 D   Do not select a field for the second and third lines; this will search titles and abstracts/descriptions in addition to subjects. Click the Search button to run the search.

 E   If you’re searching for a specific title instead of a topic, enter the partial or full title in the second search box and select Title - TI from the dropdown field menu. In the example below, we’re looking for books in a series by J.D. Robb, the titles of which all end in “in Death.” Putting that phrase in quotation marks will eliminate, for instance, the book Deaths in Venice.

 F   If you’re searching for an author, enter a partial or full name in the second search box and select Author - AU from the field menu. In the example below, we’re again looking for books by J.D. Robb. Type a space between any initials; periods are not necessary.

 G   When you run these searches, the results will likely include more than just print books. eBooks and articles (such as book reviews) may also appear. If you want to focus your search on recently published print books, including the ones in our New and Bestsellers collections, here’s how:

• Select one of the date limiters, such as Past 10 Years or Past 12 Months.
• Select Books from the Source Types limiter below the search box, which will (mostly) limit your search to physical items held by Thomas Jefferson Library or the Mercantile Library.

 2   You can try browsing our shelves, but it’ll be a bit of a challenge. Our fiction books are not organized by genre or author’s last name. Instead, they are shelved in the Language and Literature section (see the 2nd bullet below) and arranged by the author’s country of origin.

• Our new books are shelved to the left of the Service Desk on the library's entrance level (Level 3). Our leased collection of bestsellers is across the central corridor, next to the lighted Thomas Jefferson Library sign. Fiction books have call numbers that begin with P (Language and Literature).
• Most of our adult fiction books can be found on Level 4. Again, they have call numbers that begin with P.
• Young adult and children’s fiction can be found on Level 2 in the Juvenile collection (behind the State Historical Society offices). These books have call numbers that begin with a lowercase j.
• Literature in non-English languages have their own subsections in the Language and Literature section on Level 4 (for instance, French literature begins with PQ; Arabic literature begins with PJ). Most of these books are English translations. Contact a librarian for help finding them.