Join the revolution on International Science Fiction Reshelving Day

Are you tired of genre books not being properly placed in the science fiction and fantasy sections of bookstores? Join the revolution on November 18 by taking part in International Science Fiction Reshelving Day.

On that day, participants will be encouraged to raid their local big-box bookstores and move genre books from the mainstream fiction sections and place them back in the science fiction sections where they belong. No more will 1984, Watership Down and Galapagos be found with classic fiction. They will now be sitting next to those endless Dune sequels and videogame tie-in books where they belong.

Hey, wait a second. Doesn't putting them in the scifi and fantasy sections merely relegate the books to the genre ghetto where only fans would bother to enter and not mainstream readers? That would be my thought, but the organizers seem to think that it helps genre readers find the books more easily and will let mainstream readers discover other science fiction books that they might not have realized existed once they stumble into the scifi section looking for the book they wanted.

Perhaps, but I think when they don't find The Handmaid's Tale in the fiction section, they'll just figure it's out of stock and go and buy it online.

Why don't bookstores be more like libraries and simply arrange all fiction together alphabetically, regardless of genre? They could then attach those helpful atomic nucleus stickers to the SF books so it's easier to find them. Hmm ... maybe that's why they arrange them by genre.