English Literature & Criticism

1. Use the search box within the "Search our catalog" box on this page to input your keywords.

2. Look to the column on the right under the "Material type" section and click "Books."

   

3. Now look to the right column again under "Show only." Click "Available in the Library."

   

4. See a title that looks interesting? The information you need to find it in-person is right there in the list of results. The entry itself often has other information to help you determine if it's useful, so click on the title if you want to know more about it first.

   

5. Before coming to the library, check our hours and make sure you have your UMass Pass to check out the book!

Our library uses the Library of Congress Call Number Classification System to organize our books. If you know a little bit about what the call numbers stand for, you can browse the stacks more efficiently.

Here are some relevant call numbers for Literature and what they mean.

3rd Floor:

• PN - Literature (General)
• PN 59-72 - Study and teaching
• PN 80-99 - Criticism
• PN 441-1009.5 - Literary history
• PN 1010-1525 - Poetry
• PN 1600-3307 - Drama
• PN 6010-6790 - Collections of general literature
• PN 6700-6790 - Comic books, strips, etc.
• PR - English literature
• PR 1-56 - Literary history and criticism
• PR 57-78 - Criticism
• PR 500-614 - Poetry
• PR 621-744 - Drama
• PR 750-890 - Prose
• PR 951-981 - Folk literature
• PR 1098-1369 - Collections of English literature
• PS - American literature
• PS 301-326 - Poetry
• PS 330-353 - Drama
• PS 360-380 - Prose
• PS 501-689 - Collections of American literature
• PS 700-3576 - Individual authors

See a more thorough explanation of the Literature call numbers (including literature from different countries!).