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By STEVE SUMERFORD

Serendipity: Making fortunate and unexpected discoveries by accident.

-- American Heritage Dictionary

This is not, I promise, an entire column about the Dewey Decimal System.

The words "Dewey Decimal System" probably evoke memories of a visit to an elementary school library. I'm sure that your school librarian explained that the purpose of the Dewey Decimal System is to pull together on the shelf all the books on a certain subject. For example, most of the books about the Greensboro sit-ins will be found at 323.423. You can go into any of the 200,000 libraries in the world that use "Dewey" and find books about the Greensboro sit-ins shelved at 323.423.

It's a very intelligent, efficient system designed to assign all of human knowledge a specific number between 1 and 1,000. A pretty daunting task, you must admit. Even after working in libraries for 25 years, I'm still in awe of Melvil Dewey, the man who came up with this system more than 130 years ago. Ponder this: Dewey was so brilliant that he developed a classification system that had a place for books about computers even before computers existed.

The Dewey system is nearly sacred in libraries, but librarians do not hesitate, now and then, to disrupt this uber-orderly system. While we may love order on our shelves, we also want you to experience more than orderliness when you visit the library. We work hard to give you the experience of serendipity.

To create this serendipitous experience, all we have to do is pull books from their proper spots on the shelf and create special displays -- displays that we hope will entice you to check out a book that you never expected to find yourself taking home and reading.

Many of these library book displays are built around themes (holidays, current events, etc.), but undoubtedly, one of the most popular types of displays in all of libraryland is the New Book Shelf. Whether it is in a school, college or public library, the New Book Shelf is an irresistible stop for most library visitors -- even those whose arms are already full of books, even those who have a baby in one arm and a couple of other kids tugging on their sleeves.

It's the allure of serendipity, I think, that compels us to stop -- even if only for a moment -- in front of the New Book Shelf. We secretly hope to be enlightened, or at least delighted, by a book that we never even knew existed.

"I love the book displays," says Joya Wesley, a very frequent library visitor. "Whether it's the new book display or one on a special theme, I know I can rely on the library staff to hip me to cool books I'd never have found in the stacks -- whether brand new or classic."

Joya added that she "likes to imagine there are library angels who put in front of me exactly what I need to read, when I need to read it."

Serendipity in the library isn't only about the books. You can make friends unexpectedly at the New Book Shelf, too. It can be a great catalyst for striking up conversations with people you don't know. It is not unusual to hear someone tell a stranger who has just picked up a book, "I read that. You'll love it." And, from that moment, a "book talking" friendship begins.

On a recent trip to the New Book Shelf, I found "Entertaining for a Veggie Planet: 250 Down-to-Earth Recipes." I took it home, randomly flipped it open to a yummy quesadilla recipe that I made for my family's Christmas party -- once again, serendipity at work.

So, if you aren't having enough serendipity in your life these days, I suggest you head straight for the New Book Shelf at your nearest library. All you need to have is a library card and a curious mind. You won't be disappointed. And, it won't cost you a cent.

Happy New Year from the staff and board of the Greensboro Public Library!

Decimal Points is a regular feature on the Books page. If you have comments about books or libraries, we would love to hear from you.

Steve Sumerford is assistant director of the Greensboro Public Library. Contact him at 373-3636 or steve.sumerford @greensboro-nc.gov