How many books is too many?

[drjuliadc]

My oldest of four children is 5.  We have an excellent Goodwill with great books and a monthly library sale.  Books are 25-50 cents each.  I need to get more bookcases but we definitely have the room for lots of books.  I have started to collect books and I already have a lot.

 

I do not homeschool, I afterschool.  My 4 and 5 year old children are in a great Montessori. We are in Virginia and there are a lot of homeschoolers in our area so the books are great.    Since I have 16 month old twins it isn't convenient to go to the library and I always ended up paying a lot of fines when I went before kids.  I think we will go when they are older though.

 

For those of you who have already been there, did you ever get too many books? Or, if you had room for them, would you just have kept on going?  I don't buy much fiction because I figure I don't know my kids tastes yet, just a few really nice classics and anthologies I have read about here, like one of the Childcraft volumes.

 

Now, toys... I definitely have too many of them.

 

Also, by the way, this is the year I am definitely going to get organized.  Ha ha.  That sentiment is coming into play with stopping now with the books already.

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Pace yourself.  If you are like me, you have a hard time getting rid of books once you own them.  It can mean you run out of space pretty quickly and then you can't find the ones you really need.  That being said, i don't think you can ever truly have too many books.  I LOVE books.  LOL

[Tanaqui]

There is no such thing as too many books, so long as you have adequate shelving.

[marbel]

We have too many books.  By that I mean, we have too many books that no one is ever going to read.  We have a hard time getting rid of books once we own them.  When we moved 9 years ago, we inventoried our books so we could find them again in the new house.  We had over 2,000.  I've gotten rid of many since then, but more have come in.  Now I feel as if we are drowning in books but when we go through a shelf, or a box (I make people go through boxes periodically to see if there are any that can go), 90% of them are considered "essential" by one of us and so they stay.  It doesn't help that I did get rid of some, only to find that they would have been useful later. 

 

So, my opinion, yes, there can be too many books.  But if you have adequate space and don't feel burdened, then keep on going!  

 

BTW having an inventory system is great if you have a lot of books, because you can find them.  We are still getting books out of boxes all these years later.  (We numbered the boxes and that's the location in our inventory software.)

[jaredluvsjoanie]

I don't think I really want to know the answer to this question. So many other this already cause me guilt and self-doubt. :D

[The Girls' Mom]

There are over 17 full-size bookcases in my house, not to mention the small ones tucked around.  We also have random books in pretty much every room.  When we moved from TX to TN, we had more weight in books than in furniture and such.  

 

What was the question again :confused1:  

[SKL]

I would like to say you can't have too many books.  However, I did have some issues relating to my love for book-buying.

 

I had more books than we had time to use.  Which is fine for classics for older kids / adults, but kinda stupid for those tot / preschool / early reader type books which the kids outgrew before I had a chance to bring them out of storage.  Also, I was so out of touch with what we had in storage that I found myself buying books I already had at home.  I gave away probably a thousand books that my kids never used for these reasons.

 

I would say that when my kids were pre-reader age, we had about 100 books around within their reach at all times.  That was a good number, because one of my kids is a book fiend and would pile them up and feast on them throughout the day.  :p  When my kids started reading, the number of books within their reach probably approached 1000.  This is with me periodically culling the books they had outgrown and giving them to my younger nieces.  There were / are still many books in our basement, which my kids started accessing for themselves in the early elementary years.  So probably about 2000 books, which is definitely not too many at their current age.  :)

 

Besides the obvious benefits of enjoyment and literacy, having a lot of books has been helpful in several ways.  When my kids are struggling to understand any concept in school or life, there's usually a book or three somewhere that we can use to reinforce it.  And my book lover likes to go back to the same books multiple times - something that isn't so easy to do with library books.  We do still use the public library and the school library.  That's like going out to eat vs. cooking at home.  :)

 

ETA I should note that I'm only talking about kids' books here.  We won't get into the adult book inventory in this house ....

Edited February 18, 2017 by SKL

[Guest]

We can have too many, weight-wise, because over a certain number of pounds, we will be charged for our (military) moves. And BALLS TO THAT!

 

We also have lived in smaller and bigger houses.

 

So yes space can be a real problem. And I am a book lover, fullstop.

 

But too much ANYTHING can be a bit much. It's cute to say there's no such thing as too many books, but the minute you literally can't put anything down anywhere because every surface is covered in books, because the house you had very little choice in living in or not is too small, you change your mind.

 

Also, mice nests.....

 

That said, you'd be surprised how many books a body can cram into even a small apartment!!

 

I loved goodwill books when my kids were little, because when they went back to Goodwill, it was no great loss to me!

Edited February 18, 2017 by OKBud

[emmaluv+2more]

When I first read the 1000-2000 number some of you say you have, I thought that sounded like an enormous amount of books.  But, now that I think about it, I'd bet we have near the 1000 number at least.  Those thin paperback picture books are pretty tiny.  How many of those do you think would pack into a single shelf?  A bunch!  So, yeah, between the several shelves of those and all of our other shelves/boxes full of "regular" sized books I'm sure we have a ridiculously high number.  

 

We hoard books.  I've admitted it.  I can't say that makes me feel better, because I didn't feel badly about it in the first place.  :tongue_smilie:

[Garga]

People are right that once they're in, they're hard to get back out. I was so sure my sons would be readers because, 1. I love to read. 2. They see my example. 3. They loved it when I read to them.

 

But no. My oldest told me he hated reading until he was about 12. Now he says he likes it, but will only read (ONLY) when I tell him to. He never, ever, ever picks up a book (ever) on his own. Breaks my heart.

 

My youngests is 11 and until this year has said he haaaates reading, even more than his big brother. He's reading Harry Potter now and he, too, will never pick up the book until I tell him to. However, he claims to like reading HP (not any others, though), and there have been about 4 times this year where he kept reading past his timer going off. Ooo. My heart sang.

 

I have a few hundred books I bought for the boys, anticipating their love of reading. I know that not a one of them will be read, but I just can't give them away. :(. I just can't. Maybe when they move out I'll finally be able to get rid of them.

 

So, part of me says, "Buy lots of books! They make great decorations and maybe the kids will love them!" And another part of me says, "Wait until you know what they'll really want." I don't think you can go wrong either way.

[MotherGoose]

There is no such thing as too many books, so long as you have adequate shelving.

When I start rebuying books because I forgot I had them and realize no one has ever read either copy! And now that we are thinking about moving, well that puts a whole new light on things. That 2 lb book I bought for 50 cents at goodwill might cost about that to move it :)

[8Arrows4theLord]

As long as you are buying quality literature you can never go wrong. As long as you have storage space! :laugh: 

  Avoid the popular cartoon based book series. If your child must read all "168 + books" in the Baby-sitters Club series or read the latest Bob the Builder/Barbie Princess book, use the library. Those type of books will soon be outgrown and left to gather dust. If they must own them, you can always donate them to Good Will later.

  We have thousands of books. For a young family just starting out, I would suggest investing in the classic children's literature. They will never "go out of style" and are fabulous for improving language skills. Think Beatrix Potter, The original Winnie-the-Pooh books, books of children's poetry, Robert McCloskey, James Harriott's Children's Stories, Beverly Cleary, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Andrew Lang's Fairy books. Sonlight has a great book list for children. We have found lots of wonderful books through their web site. Classical Christian Education 1000 good book lists are another place to find a free list of good literature. Usborne books have wonderful history and science books that would be beneficial to any child's bookcase. As they get older they can decide what they enjoy to read. But as little ones you can fill them up with lots of good literature. Don't over look the great resource of books on CD's. I love to pop one of them in during nap time or while they are coloring, ect.

  Last bit of advice for using the library:  I write our due dates on our calendar in Bright Red Ink. I also try to keep our library day on the same day every week, usually when I know we will always be out, like on piano lesson days. When you get too many different due dates that causes problems. If your library offers an automatic reminder service you could sign up for that.

  Hope you can get something helpful out of this! :001_smile: 

[CadenceSophia]

I need you guys to be my friend in real life. I was lamenting our lack of book shelves (we have rented and moved every 18 months since my 8 year old was born, but we finally own again and are pacing ourselves in buying quality furniture) and ALL my real life friends except for one said "Maybe you should just get rid of the books?"  <gasp>  We have books to occupy 3-4 standard livingroom book cases (3'x6' mabe?). Half of that is homeschool specific resources that I won't get rid of yet, even though I may not have loved it, because I have more kids coming up the ranks  and I'd be really annoyed to have to re-buy if that style suited a younger child.  I'll be glad to purge aggressively in 5 years :)

 

With small kids, I would only stock up on books you think they might want to read/listen to in the next few years, or anything you find exceptional and love.  I would also be EXTREMELY careful of water damaged or "book mold" smelly books. They will ruin your entire collection. Aim for copies in excellent condition rather than quantity since you have time to work on it. 

[Farrar]

I used to think there was no such thing as too many books, but then I somehow got too many books.

 

I think it's about space, but also usefulness. I now cull the books routinely. Of course, if you were to come to my house, you would probably think we had a *lot* of books. Sometimes when I tell people I got rid of a couple thousand a few years ago they really freak out.

[Jackie]

I hate clutter. It makes me feel overwhelmed and claustrophobic. Therefore, for me, there is definitely such a thing as too many books and it is lower than many people's threshold. However, we have a fantastic library system, with online searching and holds, a drive thru for pickup, and no fines on kids books.

 

If you enjoy having the books and have the space, then I would assume it is not too many.

[frogger]

When your kids outgrow the young ones. Limit yourself to a collectors or 10 of your all time favorites and dump the rest at that goodwill. Share the love for other families that want cheap books. Meanwhile keep collecting.

 

 

Mine are logged so I know what I purchased or just remember from a catalog or the library. I'm getting rid of all my younger kids books except the super specials. Next to go will be elementary books. By the time I'm ready to downsize I hope my children will be settled in homes so they can come pick what they want and the rest will go to the "Friend's of the library" sale since they have given me 100's and 100's of books for 25 cents to $2.

[Tanaqui]

I was lamenting our lack of book shelves (we have rented and moved every 18 months since my 8 year old was born, but we finally own again and are pacing ourselves in buying quality furniture) and ALL my real life friends except for one said "Maybe you should just get rid of the books?"

 

When my sister was born, they had to move a lot of the books out of the house so they'd have room for her crib and playpen and high chair and, you know, stuff.

 

Packed them up and stored them at a friend's house, in fact.

 

Apparently my father was extremely anxious for J to get older, and my mother couldn't figure out why he was so eager to move all the bulky baby furniture out of the house again until one day it clicked. "Bob? You know that once she's in a bed you STILL won't be able to bring all those books in this house again, right? She's not going to start taking up less space just because she isn't using a crib!"

[Bay Lake Mom]

We have too many books. My kids get overwhelmed by the amount of choices, and they rarely look at most of them. If you want to keep a lot, consider only making a portion of them available at one time. Keep 10 books in a basket and rotate them out. See which ones the kids ask for again and again. (Those are the keepers!)

 

Also, don't forget the value of the regular library trip. Kids learn a lot from visiting the library. Teach them library skills, how to communicate with librarians, how to find the books they love, and enjoy the story time programs!

 

... and dare I say. Consider your husband's opinion. Too much of anything can make people feel uncomfortable.

[aprilleigh]

I'm definitely the wrong person to ask - I have my own library, and yes, it's overflowing

[Peaceseeker]

Everyone needs to be surrounded by books they love. Sometimes the ones you love can get lost in the stacks though. I have a nice collection of books I love, but when we downsized I got rid of a truckload of others I didn't really need to hang on to anymore. Very emotional letting go of some books, but the library has more space to hold them than I do and then every one can enjoy them.

 

I tell my book worm daughter to read the books first from the library and then collect the ones she loves or enjoys rereading . She is already amassing a nice collection of her favorites but she is choosing some good quality and nice hardback versions (she wants them to last for her kids to read them later!)

Edited February 19, 2017 by CaliforniaDreaming

[abba12]

Never too many books. Never

 

However, you CAN have the wrong books imo. Each book takes time to read, and I'd rather my children spend that time on worthwhile books than on mediocre ones. No point having 20 bookshelves if 15 of them are filled with mediocre books. So, I try to be quite intentional about the books I buy, looking to see if they're good quality, often preferring sets from DK etc over lots of random titles of varying quality. I also think those books and sets end up being more appealing to kids. My mum gave me heaps of books from garage sales, but the same few shelves got read over and over while many of the others were never opened. 

 

Every few years I go through our shelves, and cull the unappealing and the low quality. I have 8 half full bookcases at the moment. We also generally don't keep anything that doesn't have re-reading value. 

Edited February 19, 2017 by abba12

[J-rap]

I think you can have too many books, but only if you end up keeping all of them!  At 25-50 cents each, why not buy them for convenience, and then find new homes for them when you're done?

 

I love buying up a bunch of used books before trips, bringing them along for the long car ride/airplane ride, beach time, or whatever, and then leaving them behind as we are done with them.  (Donating them to the motel where we stay, etc.)  Our suitcases get lighter and lighter.

[thessa516]

A small collection of treasured books for each child sounds about right to me. BUT - I live within walking distance of a huge library, I put lots of books on hold, and it's not uncommon for us to come home with 50+ books each library trip. If I lived out in the country, I'd be hoarding books... lol!

[73349]

Books! :wub:

 

A few points of caution:

- You might have a child who just hates getting rid of things--who'd never ask you to buy him/her a certain book, but can't stand to see it go. That can result in hundreds of books taking up space but not getting read. The advantage of the library is that keeping them all is not an option. If you see this kind of tendency, you may need to change tactics.

- Books are easily forgotten on the shelf. I agree with PPs who mentioned having a basket out, and I'll go further and say it helps to group books and toys together by topic in the preschool years--so put all your farm-related books and toys in one bin, and have it out this week, and next week all your doctor/dentist materials, next trains/transportation, next ocean life, etc.

[...................]

hoarding is hoarding, books or no books.

 

To encourage yourself, just watch a few shows of hoarders :) It always works for me when I'm having trouble de-cluttering.

 

I think you already have enough, (more than enough) and I would now encourage a 1-in, 1-out policy.  No more books come in unless equal number go out. 

 

I would also say, if your books are anywhere but neatly stacked on bookshelves, then you already have too many.  If you have bookshelves enough, then it's fine for now, if you have  a big house.  We max out at about 300 total for our whole house becuase that's what the bookshelves fit, and I refuse to fill every corner with more bookshelves :)  Books (or anything) laying in stacks, on floors, rather than neatly on shelves or in tupperware, will increase your chance of cockroaches, silverfish, spider infestations and also allergies due to too many dust mites. 

 

Also, are your bookshelves properly tethered to the wall?  THey pose a huge fatality risk for your twins if they are not strapped to the wall.  :)

[...................]

Also, at that age, a regular weekly library trip can become a truly treasured and looked-forward-to part of your homeschool routine.  If you can time it during a good time for the twins everyone will win out.  I would encourage you to think about that..once the library routine has been established I would encourage you to scale down the book collection considerably. We used to have over 1000 books, and now have 300, due to judicious, and regular use of the library.

[PeterPan]

Since the bookshelves are going to cost you, those cheap books are going to become much more expensive. Personally, I wouldn't buy books like that. I have over 7k books, and I use library software. I have books upon books upon books, sigh, including books I collected for dd for her last years of high school. Well she found her own interests and found her own books, and ds turns out to be dyslexic with enough delays that I doubt he'll ever read any of the books I have.

 

You should buy Magic Treehouse books and turn down anything else.

 

You may buy anything you wish to do as a chapter book read aloud. For instance, the Lang Fairy Tales, beautiful picture book collections of nursery rhymes or fairy tales (you notice a trend here), that kind of think. I'm really keen on the ilustrator Pinkney. 

 

Other than that, don't buy. It will just be clutter. Your kids will want other things or won't have time. It costs a pittance and nothing to pick up a book used on amazon (1 cent plus shpping) when you finally realize you need it. THAT is when you buy the book and inspire them. That kind of stuff you want basically new or vgc anyway, not thrift store used. I'm talking stuff like Time Traveler, Calvin & Hobbes, the good stuff.

 

No, don't buy the Childcraft set. All that stuff is outdated crap and going to fill your house with dust. Throw it away. I have some, and I use sets like that to raise tables for sewing. Seriously, be ruthless, dno't do it. Save that money for bookshelves and go to Disney instead.

 

And when you do collect books, just make your own shelves and mount them in your basement like we did. :D  But truly, be judicious. Almost nothing you buy will get used, odds are. Wait till your kids are old enough to be there and enough of readers that you are seeing their taste and bent.

[...................]

Agreed - it's really hard do get rid of stuff later!

[Meriwether]

I have reached saturation point with books, but I have many, many books. I have simply run out of room for them to be stored neatly and easily. I am going to be getting rid of some, since I have others I want to get. I don't even know how many I have. Thousands for sure. Thousands and thousands. If we stay in our current home, I'll be putting in built-ins that will give me at least half again as much shelving. I will be weeding some out. It gets harder each time. I've already gotten rid of the most obvious choices. I do not agree that you can just use the library. I have a fairly good number of OOP books that many libraries have culled, like some of the Rosemary Sutcliffe books. Also we move occasionally. Our last town was a small town with a small library. It didn't come close to have the books on our lit and history lists.

Edited February 20, 2017 by Meriwether

[stutterfish]

I think it's good to have a selection of quality non-fiction/reference books or encyclopedias on particular subjects. I also think it is good to have a selection of historical fiction suitable for children (but these are best collected as you go along and find out what you need). However, when books are cheap, it is very easy to collect 15 reference books on the same subject, all slightly different. I used to do this because I thought it would be easier to cover a subject with a wide choice of books, but I actually found the oppostie. The desire to use ALL those books  be overwhelming and make life more complicated and just plain gets in the way of the homeschooling. Trying to cover the roman empire when you have to choose between 15 reference books on the subject and feel you should use them all, doesn't help at all!

 

I think when you have littlies and you intend to homeschool, it's easy to overbuy and overprepare, simply because you are waiting waiting waiting to get to the point where you can do all the interesting things with them. There's nothing wrong with that, but don't kid yourself that you are buying for them if you are really buying for yourself :) (btdt) If you rein it back now, you will have more space and less clutter and life will be a lot simpler when you do actually need to use those books.

 

Also, you might find that, as much as you hope for avid readers, it might be that your kids just don't like reading. BTDT, too :)

[G5052]

We're winding up homeschooling with the last one graduating in June, but I've always sold or donated as we went unless it was a big favorite of theirs. Part because I needed the money, and part because there just isn't enough room in the house.

 

I never bought more than a year ahead.

 

The reality though is that I still have a lot of books to sell this upcoming summer. We're out of bookshelves, and I don't want to buy any more. I work full-time during the school year, so I'm not able to do the listing consistently. I do have one set on eBay right now and a stack I plan to take to the library for their sale this week.

[Sk8ermaiden]

 

 

You should buy Magic Treehouse books and turn down anything else.

 

 

 

Everyone hates Magic Treehouse here! They are so dull! I couldn't even get DD interested in the one about mummies, and she loves mummies. 

 

 

I did a fair bit of collecting, especially at scholastic warehouse sales, but thankfully stopped. DD's taste in fiction is very particular and I had no way to know that before she was reading. 

 

For us, the most useful books I've collected have been Usborne and DK (or that style) non fiction. Those get pulled down again and again, for school and pleasure. (Though even those I have heard are way too "busy" for some!)

 

The thing I think should not be underestimated is the draw of a new book. Not new vs. used, but new to the child. If your kids end up being readers, they will find several books they really want every time you are in goodwill or Half Price Books, or the homeschool store...and since you love having readers, you will virtually never say no. The problem compounds. Those books they pick out or that come new in the mail from Amazon resellers will have 10x the draw of the books that have been up on the shelf forever, at least in my experience. 

 

DD has at the moment completely abandoned fiction for non fiction and I know pretty soon we're going to have the entire set of 30 of the Usborne beginners non-fiction series. DD's getting her own full size bookshelf this month. :D

[SKL]

I sympathize since it's hard to know what our kids will really like.  The Magic Treehouse example - I looked at those books and thought "ick," but my youngest asked me to buy the whole set for Christmas one year, so I did.  Turned out that both of my kids ended up enjoying most of those books.  Then I passed them down to my nieces, who are enjoying them now.  Surprise, surprise.  :)  But, on the other hand, my kids do not enjoy some of the books I adored.  (I read aloud my favorites rather than hope my kids will pick them up someday.)

 

I always tell myself that I'm going to do an inventory before I shop "next time."  (Whether it's food in the cupboard, books, clothes, whatever.)  We will bring up the great books I have in the basement and use them before buying any new ones.  But ... then I don't do it.  :/

[MeaganS]

I am super picky about the books we keep. I like quality children's picture books and prefer them to be hard backs. We have a shelf and a half of those. We also have some of my husband's and my favorite books and religious books, but all in all, not counting curriculum, we have 3 bookshelves worth and that's about the max of what I want. I vastly prefer my kindle for reading generally, so get books digitally and have for several years now. I'd like my children to switch to Kindles as they get older too. The library for everything else.

 

I hate having those junky kids books around. Disney and early readers and movie picture books, bleh. That's what the library is for. Someone at church gave us a giant box of those and it drove me crazy for a few weeks until we gave them to various little free libraries and goodwill.

[barnwife]

 

 

No, don't buy the Childcraft set. All that stuff is outdated crap and going to fill your house with dust. Throw it away. I have some, and I use sets like that to raise tables for sewing. Seriously, be ruthless, dno't do it. Save that money for bookshelves and go to Disney instead.

 

 

Others have already said what I was going to...except the above.

 

That's a personal opinion. We love Childcraft. In fact, we own 2 sets. I had to get the second because the kids are forever taking a volume and hiding somewhere to read it. And somehow they don't make it back to the bookshelves. So then I want to RA from them and can't find them! 

 

As for the OP, a number that is too many (or few) for one family, is right for another.

 

Regular access to good quality books is important, whether from a library or the home.

[Outdoorsy Type]

At that age, I think a selection of quality picture books, interesting non-fiction informational books, and classic chapter books is great. I used to go Goodwill with lists and pick up Five In A Row or Sonlight titles for a fraction of the price.

[Hunter]

I went through a phase of needing to hoard books. Now, books are the same as about to expire food, to me. They are a potential problem.

 

I probably only own about 50 hardcopy books, but about 1,000 ebooks. I am very choosy about what I keep for hardcopy.

 

The only books on a shelf are a few reference books and a few library books. My 3R books and most used books are in my large desk drawer. A few more are in a couple decorated boxes on top of my wardrobe.

[shawthorne44]

Blasphemy.   

 

DH is building an addition to the house to double the size, not because of books but because I want more space.  The plan is to skip the waste of space that is walls.   We will buy a ton of IKEA floor to ceiling bookcases, and the walls will be back-to-back bookcases.  bwaaahaaahaaa 

 

I guess you have too many books when the bookcase breaks the floor.  DH is doubling the foundation piers, so we are good there.  

[Hunter]

I remember when looking at a wall full of books soothed me and made me feel safe. Now they just look like bug nests and flood water sponges.

 

And during an earth quake, I was sitting on the floor and a ceiling high bookcase almost fell on me. I could have been killed. That day, I lost the feeling of safety boarded books used to give me. It is the same as someone who has repeatedly lost large food storage to mealy moths. What used to be safe is now a potential problem, work, and expense.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Hunter

[Targhee]

Yes, I think too many books is a real situation. And an overwhelming one at that. If it came down to it I'd rather savor a select number of re-readable classic books than drown in a glut of "pretty good" mediocre books.

[cintinative]

When I start rebuying books because I forgot I had them and realize no one has ever read either copy! And now that we are thinking about moving, well that puts a whole new light on things. That 2 lb book I bought for 50 cents at goodwill might cost about that to move it :)

 

this is how I solved that problem: I downloaded the free Book Catalogue app on my phone (I don't have data, so you can run it even if you don't). I input or scan every book I buy and then when I go thrifting I can check on my phone and see I already have a copy of a book and if it is PB or HB, etc (again, data not required. You just need internet at home to add them to your phone.).  It's really helpful!  Someone on here told me about this app.

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eleybourn.bookcatalogue&hl=en

[CadenceSophia]

 

And during an earth quake, I was sitting on the floor and a ceiling high bookcase almost fell on me. I could have been killed. That day, I lost the feeling of safety boarded books used to give me. It is the same as someone who has repeatedly lost large food storage to mealy moths. What used to be safe is now a potential problem, work, and expense.

This is a good reminder that all furniture should be tethered. Tall furniture if you only have adults in the house, but even a waist high dresser can tip and be fatal to a young child.

[fairfarmhand]

Just periodically go through them. As your kids grow older you'll weed out the ones that haven't been read and aren't interesting. I keep the ones that we'll use in school or for fiction read and reread. It'll get easier as your twins are older and can go to the library.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fullmoon]

.

Edited June 21, 2017 by fullmoon

[WistfulRidge]

DH and I both firmly fall into the "as long as you're not tripping over them or in danger of ending up on an episode of Hoarders there is no such thing as too many books" camp. We both love to read and our kids love books - though Mr. Inquisitive is the only one that can read fluently on his own right now. At any given point a clean up of the boys' room will yield a dozen or so books that they've squirreled away in there to look at during quiet time/after they're tucked in bed.

 

We used to make generous use of the library for "reading for pleasure" books but Mr. Inquisitive has a hard time returning books (and by that I mean books seem to be a comfort or "safe space"/grounding object for him and his anxiety so having to ​give back ​books is...traumatic). Plus, while they have a fairly decent number of books (I'd consider it solidly a mid sized library) the selection is very haphazard. They do have a great used book store inside the library that is open 4 days a week so when we do go I definitely aim for those days. Almost all of our other books come from amazon or thriftbooks (my new love!). I already budget for buying any school related books that I need to have because I have zero patience for making sure our library has it and/or trying to orchestrate actually getting it when I need it. DH and I make use of our library's online lending service and I keep considering an audible account to use with the kids but I haven't pulled the trigger on that yet.

 

Occasionally we have books that we either no longer need or don't think we'll read again and I donate those to the library bookstore.

[Kalmia]

It can go either way, depending on the personal circumstances of the book owner in terms of storage space, aesthetics, money, time, etc. We are not at the "too many book stage" even with eleven large bookcases and five smaller bookcases. There are two of piles that don't fit in the bookcases, one in my study and one in my daughter's room that require solutions, but we have an empty wall in the living room. I consider my decorating style to be "library" so it is no big deal to pop a bookcase in an empty space. Otherwise we would just fill it with some kind of small furniture piece that might look nice but never be used. In our particular case, even though we are not actively homeschooling (just a little afterschooling, basically one science, one history, and one literature book per child per week plus working through collections of poetry and big coffee table books of art at about the rate of three poems and three paintings a week), the books are used constantly. Most of my shelves consist of a collection of natural history titles and field guides that are in constant use for my work. My kids devour fiction and have read out both the local library and the middle school library so to get new material for them I typically buy used.

 

That being said, I recently spent a day culling books that are no longer relevant, the books on children's sleep habits, raising chickens, etc. were boxed for donation. All but the best outgrown fiction have also been donated. We do keep our very favorites and two shelves of beautiful hardcover classics/favorites. The question I ask myself and my kids is "Is this book so wonderful that I feel I would love to read it to my grandchildren/kids one day." Surprisingly few pass that test, and we keep the ones that do. Sometimes they stay on the shelves, like the illustrated editions or the few rare books which cost a mint to acquire and probably won't go down in price in the next 20 years (The City Under the Back Steps by Evelyn Sibley Lampman, for instance). Other times they are boxed and labeled to be inherited by future generations. We have the room to store a number of these boxes so why not.

 

The ten or so books, especially the picture books, my mother saved from my and my sister's childhood are treasures to me, and I am so glad she had the foresight to keep them. I can clearly remember looking at the pages when I was between two and four and when I read them now I can hear the words in her voice in my mind. This experience is not something I would give away in order to fulfill some abstract objective of being "minimal" or whatever. Select material objects can become imbued with experience, and opening these books is as similar a gateway to memory as catching the smell of my dad's favorite tobacco or even (silly as it is) the scent of my favorite neighbor's dryer sheets. In this way they are like time machines, and when I am old and my memory is not a good as it is today, I might need such crutches to recall wonderful moments.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Kalmia

[Petrichor]

I am with the people who said "you don't have too many books if you have enough bookcases." That said, I have too many books :( Not enough bookcases. And not enough space for many more bookcases. Especially since we will more than likely move one day (we are renters), and will need to physically move all of these books and bookcases.

 

And I recently realized that as the kids get older, I will be purchasing more books for school. I don't have an issue when it comes to buying books for pleasure reading - I just get those at the library. But reference books, those I have an issue with.

 

I would love to have half-full bookcases. As it stands, we have additional small piles of books on top of properly shelved (but jammed in) books on our shelves. 

 

I will confess to owning 400+ picture books most of which I purchased for ~1 cent each. I should probably eventually get rid of these, but the kids read them frequently. And the majority of them are beautifully done. We don't have any of those movie-character/marketing-made books.

[regentrude]

There is no such thing as too many books. there is only too little shelf space.

 

I grew up in a house with floor-to-ceiling book cases in several rooms. It was wonderful to have so many books to choose from. My current house has book walls in several rooms as well. And we don't have as many as my parents; we have about 4,000 books in the house.

 

ETA: Books are not clutter if they are on well organized shelves. I have never accidentally bought or borrowed a book that I own, because I know what books I have and where to locate them. (I am not as familiar with the books my teens have in their rooms)

Edited February 26, 2017 by regentrude

[shawthorne44]

...

The ten or so books, especially the picture books, my mother saved from my and my sister's childhood are treasures to me, and I am so glad she had the foresight to keep them. I can clearly remember looking at the pages when I was between two and four and when I read them now I can hear the words in her voice in my mind. This experience is not something I would give away in order to fulfill some abstract objective of being "minimal" or whatever. Select material objects can become imbued with experience, and opening these books is as similar a gateway to memory as catching the smell of my dad's favorite tobacco or even (silly as it is) the scent of my favorite neighbor's dryer sheets. In this way they are like time machines, and when I am old and my memory is not a good as it is today, I might need such crutches to recall wonderful moments.

 

 

I have some of the same.  When I had DD, my mom kept all the children's books from her childhood that were saved, plus a few that she'd saved from mine.  I took the rest of mine.  DD especially loves the one that have her Grandmother's name on them.   Even though the books have been taped multiple times.  I love reading her the ones that had been mine.  

 

I am a little sad that there is a gap in what was saved of my books.  Mom saved the best of what she read to me, then a few years of nothing saved.  Then books saved like Wrinkle in Time, basically when I was old enough to defend my books.  I hadn't owned that many books when young because we were poor.  DD often has as many stacked on her nightstand as I had in my little bookshelf.  

[fourisenough]

I'll be the dissenting voice. I think we all own too much stuff. I so often hear people say that they need a bigger place, but what they probably need is less stuff. It takes so much energy to straighten, keep track of, and organize our stuff that we're often overwhelmed. I think this applies to clothes, toys, books, kitchen gear, art supplies, crafts, etc. I've been trying to declutter and live leaner in the last several years (and we already live much leaner than most, I would guess). It is so liberating! I take a small bag or box to my co-op's "freecycle table" most weeks. As we outgrow things or finish using them, out they go! We still have a full bookcase in each bedroom and a wall-sized built-in bookcase in the family room, but we now abide by the 1-in, 1-out policy to maintain a reasonable collection.

Edited February 25, 2017 by fourisenough