I have a very serious question . . .

[scrapbookbuzz]

. . . How in the world does someone purge their books when they're all "necessary" or unique or . . . or . . . etc?

 

Please don't tell me I can get them at the library. I know that. For me, a used bookstore is cheaper than the library. Sad, but true.

 

I tried, again, this afternoon, to purge my bookshelves to get room for books that aren't on the shelf. To no avail.

 

Help!

 

(Anyone have an extra bookshelf they want to give me? :D )

[MindyD]

I had to emotionally step away from the books. :tongue_smilie: Then I looked at them one at a time and asked myself "When was the last time I read/looked at this book?" If it had been a long time, then I asked myself if I could think of a specific time that I would realistically use the book again (this allowed me to keep classics that we'll use for school). Just those two questions forced me to be more objective and get rid of most of my books. I still kept a few that I probably should have donated, but it helped A LOT.

[KristenR]

:001_smile:

 

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.

Anna Quindlen

[Karen in CO]

Start small. Get rid of 10. OR, set aside 20 into a box. Don't get rid of them, just put them aside for "later." Eventually they'll either become more important, less important, or you'll get more shelves.

[Ester Maria]

I had to emotionally step away from the books. :tongue_smilie: Then I looked at them one at a time and asked myself "When was the last time I read/looked at this book?" If it had been a long time, then I asked myself if I could think of a specific time that I would realistically use the book again (this allowed me to keep classics that we'll use for school). Just those two questions forced me to be more objective and get rid of most of my books. I still kept a few that I probably should have donated, but it helped A LOT.

I agree. At some point I just ask myself these questions and then drive them away before I can change my mind.

 

I rarely get rid of books, but over the years you get to the point of having many unnecessary ones occupying your space. I say sort them quickly and efficiently and get rid of them the same day - the longer it takes, the more of an agony it is. :tongue_smilie:

[SunD]

I add, "Will my children/grandchildren want this?" to the questions.

 

I probably shouldn't, but after my grandmother died, we were going through the house and I found an absolute treasure trove of books in the basement. Most of them were my grandfather's. He had died 30 years prior (I never knew him). I found whole sets of vintage textbooks that they (and their parents) had used in a little one-room schoolhouse in rural Kansas.

 

Unfortunately I was only 13 and I didn't take as many of them as I should have. I do have a three-volume history of England, some poetry anthologies, McGuffey's Primer, and an elementary French grammar. He did also have junk like Funny Fart Jokes for Bathroom Reading, which I'm sure could have been thrown out much earlier. Trash/donate those, absolutely. But if something is truly a treasure, even if you're not going to use it yourself, I'd keep it even if it meant getting another bookshelf. Or sell it online, or give it to someone who wants it. Those I don't just send out the door.

[Pippen]

The first purge is the worst. I donated my first batch to the library book sale and happened to be there when some college students discovered the books I was clearing out of my professional library. They were so thrilled, and I was happy to know they'd be used instead of sitting idle on my shelves for the years I was doing my at home mom thing.

 

Since then it's been much easier to box them up and haul them away. There were only a few I wished for again and replacing them was cheap and easy.

[MamaT]

I have no advice because I just can't do it. I converted an extra room to a library instead (and still have bookcases in other rooms). I used to feel guilty about keeping them all. I finally gave myself permission and happily collect more. :001_smile:

[Alte Veste Academy]

Our first move in 7 years is coming up in about 6 months. We have a weight allowance. It seems generous...until you look at all my bookshelves. I'm going to be forced to do some hard core culling. :nopity::willy_nilly:

[melissel]

Start small. Get rid of 10. OR, set aside 20 into a box. Don't get rid of them, just put them aside for "later." Eventually they'll either become more important, less important, or you'll get more shelves.

 

:iagree: This is how I had to do it. Our library is awesome, so I told myself I could always get it again from the library if I just HAD to have it again. Honestly, I don't think there has been a single book that I got from the library that I used to own.

[Sharon H in IL]

I don't understand the question. :confused:

[scrapbookbuzz]

Sharon, in case you're not joking, my question was to those who have actually managed to successfully purge books from their collections. I often try . . . and fail. I'm pretty sure I just don't WANT to give them up. I dream of having a library. But at the same time, I know I should get rid of SOME of my collection.

 

Maybe I should ask, "How do you get yourself to want to let go of some of your books?"

[funschooler5]

I went through this a few months back.

 

I finally decided that we had so many books that my kids just didn't have the time to look at them all. I found that when I purged a lot of the "unwanted" books, that they started to see ones they hadn't read before, or hadn't read in a while. It was just getting impossible for them to find what they wanted to find. Also, I find that when they check out books from the library they are more likely to get read because there is a time limit for returning them.

 

Of course, we still have way too many books. My mom's neighbor, who used to be a teacher, gave me two whole boxes full. It was difficult, but I forced myself to keep only the ones that I knew would get read. I still have a hard time letting go. :tongue_smilie:

[SKL]

For my grown-up books, I just read one at a time an then donate. I used to think I'd use them as reference or to refresh the message, but the reality of parenthood set in and I know I'm lucky if I get a chance to read them once. I stopped buying books for myself quite a while ago.

 

When it comes to kids' books, I have lots of room for improvement. The fact is that we have more easy/preschool books than any two children could ever read, especially given that they don't have that much free time at home. But they are all such good books, how can I decide which ones to get rid of? I hold onto them until my slowest reader is too old for them, and then donate them by the bagful to my younger nieces. My poor sister!

[jelbe5]

Is something such as a Kindle an option for you? I started purging books I could put on my Kindle. Almost all of these books are in the public domain, so from that point the expense was not that bad. I do, however, tend to keep classics if they have beautiful illustrations . . .

[greenvneck]

About 10 years ago I admitted to myself that I really don't re-read fiction. So I got rid of all of my fiction books, stopped purchasing, and got rid of any non-fiction I knew I either wouldn't use for reference or that I couldn't get at the library. These were all my personal books, btw,not kids' books. I have taken 4 laundry baskets of kids' books to charity this month so far, with another several to go. It was overwhelming to have so many; now it feels like we can pick up a favorite book and be happy reading it rather than look at so many shelves and piles of books and not know where to start.

[QuirkyKapers]

This was difficult for me about 2 years ago. I just recently went through the books on the basis that they have been sitting there and I haven't used them, well, since I bought them :glare: I was thinking that maybe I just need to come up with a number of books that would be reasonable for each category. For parenting, maybe 10 books instead of thirty would be sufficient. For crying out loud, how many parenting books can someone read anyway? ;)

[Unicorn.]

:001_smile:

 

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.

Anna Quindlen

 

Exactly! What more does one need?

[Lucy the Valiant]

We just converted the basement to a library.

 

One way I have found to help myself purge books is to donate them to a library, where I know I am furthering those kids' education. We like africanlibraryproject.org.

 

We have bookshelves all over the house, though - there are 6 bookworms here, and it's bad. Ha! So I'm probably the LAST person you should expect a good answer from.

[elegantlion]

I purge the ones that belong to dh, ones he'll never read again. :lol:

 

Seriously, I don't purge a lot. I moved a ton (probably quite literally) of books. Dh has tools, I have books.

 

But to consider downsizing I do the following:

 

- are there dated books that I will never use, such as guide to computer programs I no longer own. Decorating with ducks and geese from 1982? stuff like that.

 

- spiritual, self-help books that were not so helpful. I write in a lot of my books. I ended up throwing away a few of those type of books because of the personal notes.

 

- duplicate copies. This gets harder because what if it's a pretty copy. What if it's a reading copy with better notes. This is why I still own two copies of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

 

- books with bad fonts. I picked up many books at thrift stores. Sometimes I bought the title, but want to upgrade to a better copy to keep. Books with teeny tiny fonts bite the dust.

 

- bad textbooks. Again many of my thrift store finds were cheap, like .89 hardbacks. I would buy and then go home and check reviews. I also have a few that after skimming, realized they weren't worth the paper they were printed on. Back to the donate pile they went.

 

Books that I'm a sucker for and refuse to part with:

 

- Antique books from the turn of the century or before.

 

- Childhood favorites of ds. He'll have to buy his own copy of Goodnight Moon for his kids.

 

- Classics - I want to have a library. Once ds graduates our classroom will become a library. There will be bookshelves, a piano, a desk, and a daybed. I may never leave that room.

 

- Classics sets. I've found a few at thrift stores. They aren't antique, but they're from the 50s or 60s. My complete Shakespeare from 1952 has a ton of notes from the previous owner. I'm using it this year, adding my own notes.

 

I was able to part with a lot before we moved, but we're not planning on moving anytime soon. So I'll keep what I have for now.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I purge the ones that belong to dh, ones he'll never read again. :lol:

 

Seriously, I don't purge a lot. I moved a ton (probably quite literally) of books. Dh has tools, I have books.

 

But to consider downsizing I do the following:

 

- are there dated books that I will never use, such as guide to computer programs I no longer own. Decorating with ducks and geese from 1982? stuff like that.

 

- spiritual, self-help books that were not so helpful. I write in a lot of my books. I ended up throwing away a few of those type of books because of the personal notes.

 

- duplicate copies. This gets harder because what if it's a pretty copy. What if it's a reading copy with better notes. This is why I still own two copies of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

 

- books with bad fonts. I picked up many books at thrift stores. Sometimes I bought the title, but want to upgrade to a better copy to keep. Books with teeny tiny fonts bite the dust.

 

- bad textbooks. Again many of my thrift store finds were cheap, like .89 hardbacks. I would buy and then go home and check reviews. I also have a few that after skimming, realized they weren't worth the paper they were printed on. Back to the donate pile they went.

 

Books that I'm a sucker for and refuse to part with:

 

- Antique books from the turn of the century or before.

 

- Childhood favorites of ds. He'll have to buy his own copy of Goodnight Moon for his kids.

 

- Classics - I want to have a library. Once ds graduates our classroom will become a library. There will be bookshelves, a piano, a desk, and a daybed. I may never leave that room.

 

- Classics sets. I've found a few at thrift stores. They aren't antique, but they're from the 50s or 60s. My complete Shakespeare from 1952 has a ton of notes from the previous owner. I'm using it this year, adding my own notes.

 

I was able to part with a lot before we moved, but we're not planning on moving anytime soon. So I'll keep what I have for now.

 

This is all great advice...

 

But I have to say that the bolded above had to be the most popular title in 1982. NYT Bestseller. When we bought our first house in the early 90s it was clear to me that everyone had a copy stashed away some where. Possibly propping up the goose that was on top of their kitchen cabinets. :lol::lol: That cracked me up-thanks for the laugh!

[Upward Journey]

ooo...oooo..I know...I know...

 

Move across the country and then to another country in under three years time. That'll do it :D

 

OK. So I don't really know. I'm still trying to figure out which ones are going to make the cut. This thread has actually been really helpful.

[scrapbookbuzz]

I think for now I have decided to clear off the bookshelf that's in the dining room (that's holding everything but books) and will move it to the living room, where it can serve its purpose. :)

[Stacia]

As for my own books, I purged bunches over the past few years. I rarely re-read books, so I got rid of most of mine. I try to use library books for my reading, borrow books from friends, or (once in a very rare while) buy a book or get one as a gift.

 

As for the kids books.... We had soooooooooo many. (We still have too many.) Yet, I've gotten rid of tons of those. First, I went through the ones I bought related to schooling (historical fiction, etc...) -- I sorted them out in big piles by subject: history, science, and so on.... Then, where I had really big piles (for me, history related subjects), I made smaller, more specific categories (such as medieval, ancient, blah, blah,...). Then, I assessed each pile, picked out the absolute favorites (sometimes w/ input from the dc) & got rid of the rest. I did this multiple times over a couple of years w/ all books that were bought for the dc. I've also gone through their personal collections multiple times, usually pulling stuff I think they don't like or never read & then asking them if it was ok to pass on/donate it. Mostly, I've done pretty well in that category too (though dd really likes to hang on to lots of her books).

 

We still have lots of books, but since the kids regularly have new books coming in, I try to continually do small purges of books so that we still have room for the books.

[scrapbookbuzz]

Perhaps someday I'll want to "let go" but that day is not today! :p

[torikei]

A kindle makes letting go unnecessary. :D

[scrapbookbuzz]

I have a NOOK. However, I find that I can't bring myself to pay FULL price for an ebook when I already own a hard copy. Plus, I can't really take the NOOK in the bath or jacuzzi with me. So while I understand the ebook concept in theory I'm not seeing it practically right now.

[RoundAbout]

Sharon, in case you're not joking, my question was to those who have actually managed to successfully purge books from their collections. I often try . . . and fail. I'm pretty sure I just don't WANT to give them up. I dream of having a library. But at the same time, I know I should get rid of SOME of my collection.

 

Maybe I should ask, "How do you get yourself to want to let go of some of your books?"

 

We're in the middle of this:

 

1) First we got rid of junk paperbacks. If I really need to read that mystery or sci-fi novel again I'm sure I can get it from paperbackswap or the library.

 

2) we got rid of a lot of classics unless they were excellent critical editions - Crime and Punishment is not about to go out of print so you can safely buy it again if needed.

 

3) Anything that was out of date went away unless it was vintage or had sentimental value. I was a STEM major and my husband was political science, and we inherited a lot of books from parents, so there were a lot of books that were just a decade or three out of date. We kept classics in our fields or anything we might refer to again.

 

4) An honest assessment of whether we were really going to read it (or read it again in 5 more years). If a book is *just* furniture, and not going to be read, then its probably better to make shelf space for something more functional.

 

5) We were more likely to keep non-fiction and more likely to keep something that was unusual or out of print.

 

We love books and we used to have thousands and thousands, but it just wasn't practical anymore. We still have hundreds, but now we have more space, and there's a higher percentage of high quality stuff left on the shelf. We also have Kindles and use the library a lot :tongue_smilie:

[SebastianCat]

My first thought when I read the question, to the OP, was that your kids are at very different ages, so it would be much harder to purge. But are there books that your younger one no longer reads that you CAN get rid of?

 

My kids are fairly close in age (9 & 7), so I can purge as soon as the younger one has outgrown stuff. I have a nephew who is 3 1/2 who also LOVES books, so we send him books a couple times per year.

 

Seriously, finding someone else who will love your books as much as you do/did makes it much easier, and much more rewarding.

[scrappyhappymama]

I've gotten really great deals on bookcases on Craigslist.

 

Sorry, that's all I've got. :D

[Heather in Neverland]

Our first move in 7 years is coming up in about 6 months. We have a weight allowance. It seems generous...until you look at all my bookshelves. I'm going to be forced to do some hard core culling. :nopity::willy_nilly:

 

Yep. Moving someplace whee you can't take all of your books certainly makes you look at them differently. Then it became an issue of what can I absolutely NOT live without and the rest I sold in a big book sale at my house. I made tons of money and I felt better. :)

[Heather in Neverland]

Our first move in 7 years is coming up in about 6 months. We have a weight allowance. It seems generous...until you look at all my bookshelves. I'm going to be forced to do some hard core culling. :nopity::willy_nilly:

 

Yep. Moving someplace where you can't take all of your books certainly makes you look at them differently. Then it became an issue of what can I absolutely NOT live without and the rest I sold in a big book sale at my house. I made tons of money and I felt better. :)

[Sparkle]

Paperbackswap was really helpful for me in this regard. The idea that I didn't have to hang on to every book I've ever purchased, but that I could read it once and then let it go. I got my enjoyment out of it, and now I'll pass it on to someone else for them to enjoy. I still have way too many books, but it's been freeing to know that I don't have to keep every single one.