Abstract
American library classification sheds light on a much larger, ongoing, and at times quite contentious conversation about the nature and relationship of art and craft. Melissa Auther has stated that throughout the twentieth century the basic assumptions about craft's inadequacies vis-a-vis fine art were maintained and reinforced explicitly through classification and implicitly through critical categories such as the decorative. There are many areas in which inquiry into the decisions made by the creators of library classification systems can yield insight into their culture, their times, and cultural change over time. The classification system of the Library of Congress has been accused of freezing the Zeitgeist rather than developing with it. If there is truth to that accusation, then Library of Congress classification presents an unparalleled opportunity to understand societal attitudes regarding class, education, gender, and other concerns at the turn of the twentieth century. That this type of analysis is so seldom undertaken in library literature perhaps is indicative of the ongoing pragmatic nature of the profession.