Fiction: PSU's Fiction Collection

The books in the PSU Library are organized by Library of Congress call numbers. This means our books are organized by topics and subtopics. When looking for fiction, this means that all the works by an author are going to be shelved together. Another thing to note, books written ABOUT an author are going to be shelved with books written BY the author. Here are some sections to check out:

PN3427-3448 Fiction genres

This section has some science fiction, gothic romance, historical fiction, and mysteries. Check out your public library for a larger selection.

PR English literature​

Books written by and about English authors. Here you'll find classics, like those written by Jane Austen, and more contemporary works by authors like Sally Rooney.

PS American literature​

Books written by and about American authors. In American Literature, you can find books like The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead or The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, among many others.

PZ Juvenile (and Young Adult) Literature

The Library's young adult collection includes series like Harry Potter and the Hunger Games trilogy, classics like The Outsiders, and newer works such as The Hate U Give and The Sun is Also a Star.

NC1300-1766 Comic Books and Graphic Novels

Here you can find humorous cartoons and comic books like Mad Magazine and New Yorker cartoons.

See below for a selected list of call numbers in English and American LIterature and Young Adult Literature.



PR1-9680 English literature

PR57-78 Criticism

PR111-116 Women authors

PR471-(479) 20th century

PR481-488 21st century

PR500-614 Poetry

PR621-744 Drama

PR750-890 Prose

PR921-928 Essays

PR931-938 Wit and humor

PR1098-1369 Collections of English literature

• PR1119-1151 By period
• PR1170-1228 Poetry
• PR1241-1273 Drama
• PR1281-1309 Prose (General)
• PR1361-1369 Essays

PR6000-6049 1900-1960

PR6050-6076 1961-2000

PR6100-6126 2001-

PS1-3576 American literature

PS126-138 Biography, memoirs, letters, etc.

PS147-152 Women authors

PS221-228 20th century

PS229-231 21st century

PS301-326 Poetry

PS330-353 Drama

PS360-380 Prose

PS420-429 Essays

PS430-439 Wit and humor. Satire

PS501-689 Collections of American literature

PS580-619 Poetry

• PS593 By form
• PS601-617 By period

PS623-(635) Drama

PS680-689 Essays

PS700-3576 Individual authors

• PS3500-3549 1900-1960
• PS3550-3576 1961-2000
• PS3600-3626 2001-

PS(8001-8599) Canadian literature

PZ Juvenile and Young Adult

PZ 4 History and Criticism of children's literature

PZ 5 Anthologies

PZ 7 Juvenile Fiction

PZ 8 Fairy Tales

PZ 8.1 -8.2 Folklore, Legends, Fables

PZ 8.3 Poetry

PZ 10.8 Foreign language works

Did you know PSU has a large collection of graphic novels? Dark Horse Comics was founded by PSU alum Mike Richardson and is the third-largest comics publisher in the United States, with mutual ties to the film and television industries.

The browsing collection is available on the third (titles starting A–F), fourth floor (titles starting G–R), and fifth floor (titles starting S–Z) of the Library along the curved windows. There is one copy of every Dark Horse comic book, graphic novel, collected edition, and book. The collection is available for reading in the Library or for checkout. Records for all of these items are in the Library catalog.

Here is a list of the Dark Horse Comics available through the PSU Library. Or you might try searching for something like Hellboy or Sin City. Including "dark horse comics" in quotations in your search will help narrow down your results to these comics.