How to select a proper LCC range for years (and specific number inside the range)

Hi, I hope it's a right place to ask such question =)

I'm no librarian, just want to have LCC and DDC numbers for nice UI xD But I want it to be more or less correct. I've just started assigning LCC to my books and immediately stumbled upon the problem: some common classifications doesn't make sense to me.

For example, The Time Wanderers is commonly classified as PG3476. It's in the range "PG3475 - PG3476 for Works by and about Individual Authors 1917-1960".
Yet this work was first published in the 1986, so I'd expected the proper range to be "PG3477 - PG3490 for Works by and about Individual Authors 1961-2000".

My hunch is that libraries use PG3476 instead of PG3477-PG3490 because most of the works by these authors are before 60s, so it makes sense to have them situated on the shelf nearby, right?

So, my questions are:
- Just in case, is my assumption correct: range is selected based on work's original publication date, not the "book publication date"
- Should I just use PG3477-PG3490 range, since I mostly do it for LT UI and not how I store books?
- How to select one particular number from a range? Seems like libraries usually divide the ranges based author's last name and try to distribute it evenly (at least, it looks like this on https://calculate.alptown.com/). If it's so, this is again something that isn't interesting for me, so I can potentially use any number from the range? Can I just go with PG3477 in this case?

>1 aviskase: Hi! I don't know the particulars of the PG subclass, but I had some experience with PS in library school, and I'm looking at the PG section in here:
https://www.loc.gov/aba/cataloging/classification/lcco/lcco_p.pdf

so I hope I can give you a bit of help.

First, YES, the classification is based on original publication date. HOWEVER, for works by (and about) individual authors, it starts with the publication date of the author's FIRST published book. All the other books they write are then classed in that same number and shelved together, even if those publication dates are technically into the "next time period" in the classification. I found at least one book by this author with a publication date of 1959:
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/874849885

I don't know any Russian, but the date definitely says 1959. :-)

In order to find this author's books in the actual Library of Congress, I had to search for the spelling Strugatskii. Have a look here:
https://lccn.loc.gov/78004145

The LC number for that book is PG3476.S78835 D33.
You already know that PG3476 means "book by Russian author who was first published between 1917 and 1960."

You're correct that the ranges are split by author's last name, not so much evenly distributed as "in alphabetical order, but leaving enough room that we can squeeze other authors in there so they are still in alphabetical order." :-D This author's number (also known as a Cutter number) is S78835.

The period before the "S" is technically a decimal. That means that other authors with Cutter numbers (for example) S7881 or S78832 will be shelved before this author's books, and S793 will be after.

The D33 is for the title, which is Far Rainbow in English, but the note says the Russian title is Dalekai︠a︡ raduga -- thus the "D" number instead of "F" number.

I'm sorry -- this MUST be more than you wanted to know and longer than you expected! If there's no LCC number for this author, you can put in PG3476.S78835 and that would be incomplete but would keep all that author's books together with the correct Cutter number.

>2 HeathMochaFrost: Oh, this is a perfect answer! I didn't know about "author's FIRST published book" rule, it all makes sense now.

Yeah, by "even" I meant evenly on shelves xD I think I'm gonna just use LCC without Cutter numbers for now, since I'm mostly interested in categorizations, but it's still good to know how they are formed. Especially that bit about using the first letter from the original language title.

Thanks!