To many bookworms, the organisation of books in a library might seem like a trivial fact of little to no consequence.

But in the small East Arnhem Land community of Galiwin'ku, the re-organisation of library books according to local Indigenous concepts has been hailed as a quiet revolution.

Map Galiwin'ku is a small community in East Arnhem Land

The remote community's library is visited by people in search for many things including books to read, a person to chat with, or a seat in which to take advantage of the air-conditioning and free wi-fi.

It has a small collection of non-fiction, but employees believed its organisation based on the Dewey Decimal System may have been creating more work than it was worth.

"It never seemed to make sense when I was visiting here," said Carol Stableford, who looks after libraries run by the East Arnhem Regional Council.

"There were just books that weren't in any way relevant to what local people wanted.

Library staff say the pilot project has been welcomed by the community. ( Supplied: East Arnhem Regional Council )

"I find that people mainly want books about their communities — by Indigenous people, for Indigenous people."

Maeva Masterson, who visits remote libraries through her work with the Northern Territory Library, recalled being puzzled by the need for signs explaining what the categories of fiction and non-fiction meant.

"When I talked to the community library officers, they explained to me that the concepts of fiction and non-fiction were largely absent in their community's culture," she said.

Developed by the Northern Territory Library and East Arnhem Regional Council, in consultation with the local community, the culturally-sensitive method is expected to promote reading and improve people's connection to their local library.

It effectively closes the book on the Dewey Decimal System — a globally-used library classification system that groups reference books according to their relation to a broader subject, such as technology.

"A number might be, for example, 641.55994, and that might mean slow-cookery," Ms Stableford said.

"It's a system that was devised by somebody in Europe somewhere and may have been relevant at the time, but times have changed."

The new program is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia.

The books have been organised according to key cultural aspects of Yolngu life and are categorised in language.

Loosely translated, one category encompasses art, language, culture and customs. Another covers the natural environment. One is for true stories, and a final category gives a home to everything else.

Sections for youth and adult fiction have also been given new titles in Yolngu language.

"Instead of the numbers we have a few categories," library officer Amanda Gumbula explained.

"It helps other people to understand how the sections are different, rather than the old way."

The program is a pilot, but Ms Stableford said its broad acceptance within the community had piqued the interest of other remote libraries interested in rolling it out.

"We really need people to be able to look through and see the general area that they're looking for," she said.

Ms Masterson agreed.

"We hope that people will feel the way that they view the world is validated and important," she said.

"They can come into their library and they don't have to reinterpret the world to be able to access a book."