Giraffe Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I have started cataloging our books with LibraryThing (thank you, WTM forums!). We are merging my library with DH's library after having my books spend 4 years in storage (long story). They are all a jumble physically, but at least I've got a catalog started to organize them in theory. I've cataloged ONE (1) bookcase and it has 200 books in it, give or take a couple. I have five more bookcases, a few boxes, a great quantity on the floor, and my cookbooks to go. At this rate I will have over 1,000 books. That number just stuns me. And DD is only 3 years old. I haven't even started really building HER library!! :eek: How many books do y'all have?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EthiopianFood Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Four bookcases plus dd's mini case. I don't want to know. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 My mother still has well over 20,000. I've only got about 1,000, but when SO and I finally finish merging our books I expect that to double. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I have no idea- lots, but I don't hoard them particularly. I am often culling my bookshelves. Its just that I buy more than I cull :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anissarobert Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I don't know for sure because it is so hard to count and many are in storage bins, but I'm pretty sure I have over 12,000. I also clean them out, but I am always finding more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I think we have about a thousand. Somewhere between lots and not enough anyway ;) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I had over 2000 when my daughter was born over 3 years ago. Book buying has slowed but I have added more so maybe 3000? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 How many books do y'all have?! I love Library Thing too. How many books do I have? I don't like to buy books. I'm cheap. I've always used the library as much as possible (even working at our county library), and I also use another larger library system nearby. I do not like spending money on books that I can get for free. Dh and I even weeded through our books a few months back, selling off as many as we could. I have over 500 books cataloged at Library Thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Somewhere between lots and not enough :lol:me too I have 4 tall bookshelves full...and multiple book boxes around the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetobeme Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 idk. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Many. I would think less than a thousand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 No. Boxes and boxes. When we get them all unpacked I'll take pictures. It's very very sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Thousands. No idea, really. At one point we counted the linear feet of books and estimated from there, but I no longer recall how that worked out, and it was ages ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 LOTS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I have no idea- lots, but I don't hoard them particularly. I am often culling my bookshelves. Its just that I buy more than I cull :) Same here. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in the Country Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 The equivalent of 8 full sized bookcases double-stacked with many more in boxes. About half of our family's books were purchased by myself while I was still single. I've never tried to count them. That sounds like a daunting task. I need more bookshelves... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 The last time I counted it was over 1000, and I've added many since then. Sounds like a fun project for the day, count the books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I have started cataloging our books with LibraryThing (thank you, WTM forums!). We are merging my library with DH's library after having my books spend 4 years in storage (long story). They are all a jumble physically, but at least I've got a catalog started to organize them in theory. I've cataloged ONE (1) bookcase and it has 200 books in it, give or take a couple. I have five more bookcases, a few boxes, a great quantity on the floor, and my cookbooks to go. At this rate I will have over 1,000 books. That number just stuns me. And DD is only 3 years old. I haven't even started really building HER library!! :eek: How many books do y'all have?! OHHH, I would so LOVE to have that many book cases. Sigh. I have tons of books stashed here and there (no count, really) but I have to give most away. We just don't have the space. I only keep what I think the kids will really one day read and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Not exactly but somewhere between say 1600 - 1800 which more showing up all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Um...well, alot. I would guess 8,000-10,000. We do actually cull regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giraffe Posted June 2, 2010 Author Share Posted June 2, 2010 Thank goodness! I was starting to feel like a freak. No one I know has THIS many books. I guess I'm just a sucker for a book. When I was in college I would go to the Green Valley Book Fair in the Shenandoah Valley of VA and would fill my little car with books. I still haven't read all of them (blush) but I know I will one day and I couldn't pass up $2.50 for a great translation of The Aeneid. The funny thing is, I was a business major, so even back then people were looking at me askance ("You want to read that for FUN?!"). When we got my books out of storage I told DH he had no idea what was coming. I was right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 We're required to COUNT them??!!! But, but, but they're for reading! Counting is for numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 According to LibraryThing, we have 1974. But I bought one yesterday that is not cataloged .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I cannot imagine, but no where near as many as my sister. I have book envy when I go to her house. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoyfulMama Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Somewhere between lots and not enough anyway ;) Rosie :iagree::D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3lilreds in NC Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I have no idea. We started cataloging them a while back and didn't get very far. We are in the process of ordering more bookshelves and even then I'm not sure we will get them all on there. I am learning to check things out at the library and not buy books just because I might like them; I try to buy them when I know they're ones I will want to have around. There are just a LOT of them in that category! I have a ridiculously long Amazon list and more than a hundred in the shopping cart "saved for later" because I don't want to make my list any longer than it is. :lol: And, somehow, when I buy books, they are not the ones on my wish list - they are other ones I find! Dh is constantly telling me that we have too many books but I don't think there is any such thing. We've even culled them before and gotten rid of several but not enough to make up for what we buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I came into our marriage with about 800 books, but only collected 200 more in the ensuing 12 years (good thing for libraries when you can't afford to buy books). I finally sold about half my books earlier this year because we're switching to ebooks. Since we move every year, my knees have been much happier even though I miss my books. I'll be getting rid of several hundred more in the next few months. I hope to end up with about 200 physical books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Not a clue. I started entering books on Library Thing, but I got so tired of adding, and I hadn't even made a dent in the books. And I've purchased hundreds since then.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giraffe Posted June 2, 2010 Author Share Posted June 2, 2010 We're required to COUNT them??!!! But, but, but they're for reading! Counting is for numbers. It's the accountant in me, I guess. I want them all cataloged, quantified, and known. I'm not very organized, but I like to organize things. That sentence only makes sense if you know me. My SIL says I can organize anything but myself. She's right. Plus I know we have duplicates, potentially triplicates given that DH and I have been collecting books separately for years and are now merging the libraries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabird Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 don't know... but I have 7 bookshelves full and went to yet another book sale this morning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I own 10, b/c I read and pass along. But my dd's have boxes upon boxes. I am raising lil hoarders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Food4Thought Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 If we had more space, I'm sure we'd have more! When we moved to this house, we donated 8 large boxes of books to the library. I just went through and donated 2 more. We have 3 bookshelves full of books, plus a few random stacks and bins. If the library owns it, I don't have to clean it, organize it, or record it in a database. So unless it's something I know I'll read repeatedly, I'd prefer the library keeps it for me. Even though I LOVE books. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristine in VA Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I don't know, and I'm not sure I want to know. I do know that when we go to the library, I surprised at how often I say, "Oh, we have that one at home," particularly in the picture book section. Kristine in VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia On My Mind Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 idn but it is like this..........I have been an avid reader my entire life, taught school for 20+ years (mostly middle and high), had 5 children from 24-41, have 5 grandchildren (the oldest dgd I now homeschool and we just finished 9th grade), a husband who is also an avid reader and about 12 years ago we spent a whole summer in Boston and came home with the load limit of books in our Explorer van from the Brattle Bookstore. We have countless bookshelves in every room of our house, and every closet has a low bookshelf under the clothes. We are to the stage that we must get rid of a book to have room for a new book on the shelves. We cull and then go right back and buy the beloved book we got rid of. We are life long learners..........how do you do that without books. I have given my dgd the choice of a brand new from the bookstore classic to read or my older copy from my shelf; she will choose the older copy every time because she says she likes the way hardback older books feel and smell. Maybe it's genetic;). My daughter, who homeschools 3 of 4 under 8, just bought her 6th and 7th bookshelves at a garage sale in her neighborhood. Her father told her she was really in trouble now with a smile of pride in his eyes at the fact she is a chip off the old blocks. Be careful! Books and the collection of them are addictive. Who needs Kindle anyway!:tongue_smilie: I'm with my dgd in that I like holding the book in my hand as I read and marking my spot with a bookmark and seeing the stack of ongoing reading next to my comfy chair in the corner with two bookshelves full of books behind and on either side of my comfy chair in my bedroom. Now, if I could just get some time away from lurking on this forum I could get back to my next favorite hobby, reading. Thank goodness I can lurk, when my eyes are tired of reading, from my laptop on the ottoman in front of my comfy chair in front of the bookshelves full of books on either side of my comfy chair............Whew! I'm too tired to read now! More lurking I suppose! :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 No idea... We have 7 bookcases full, several boxes of books in our garage and storage shed, and stacks throughout the house. Like others, I'm always going through them and donating ones I don't think we'll read again, but there are always 2-3 books coming in for every one going out... ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debora R Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 When we moved in 1998, they packed up 47 book boxes. Our collection has grown. When we moved this last time, the books were scattered throughout our packing, so I'm not sure how many there are now..... and that's after purging a good number of my paperbacks before the move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 :lol: This is the best question ever! :lol: I think I need help with the math. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tikitorch Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 Way too many Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 We have as many books as will fit in 12 bookcases that reach to the ceiling. I haven't catalogued them, but they are somewhat organized. Well, at least I know where things are. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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