Kate in Arabia Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Ok, not all that important in the grand scheme of things, but I'm needing to rearrange some shelves and am reconsidering how I have some things grouped. Do you group historical fiction in with your history sections? And/or do you have a general "literature" section? Would it make more sense to have a poetry section, or to split out the poetry books by author nationality (except for the anthologies, then what would you do with those?)? If you're putting historical fiction with history (like Three Musketeers, Mr. Revere and I, etc.) then what do you do with books like Swiss Family Robinson, Kidnapped, or Alice in Wonderland? It's bothering my hyper-organized self to not have this laid out neatly in my mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I keep mine on the same shelves with my history non-fiction for particular time periods. So I have a couple of shelves of "Ancients" books, both fiction and non-fiction. A couple of Medieval, etc. I do pull out the U.S. only books and keep them separate from "world" related books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMCassandra Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 If I use it with school, it goes on the school shelves. I have sections for each of the four years of the history rotation. As we've moved into the logic stage, I have sold some of my grammar-stage titles; otherwise, I just keep the books for the same time period together regardless of whether it's grammar, logic, or rhetoric stage. Other categories, in various bookshelves in our house, are: 1. Picture books 2. Children's Classics 3. Young Adult 4. Adult (I purged a lot of these; if I had a lot it would be alpha by author) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Ok, not all that important in the grand scheme of things, but I'm needing to rearrange some shelves and am reconsidering how I have some things grouped. Do you group historical fiction in with your history sections? And/or do you have a general "literature" section? Would it make more sense to have a poetry section, or to split out the poetry books by author nationality (except for the anthologies, then what would you do with those?)? If you're putting historical fiction with history (like Three Musketeers, Mr. Revere and I, etc.) then what do you do with books like Swiss Family Robinson, Kidnapped, or Alice in Wonderland? It's bothering my hyper-organized self to not have this laid out neatly in my mind... Fiction books are shelved alphabetically by author. I might put little stickers on the spines to designate a specific genre, such as historical fiction, but they will be shelved alphabetically by author. Poetry would be shelved in its own "section," alphabetically by author (if possible; I forget what the rule is if it's an anthology...by the title??) I guess what I'm saying is that I do what libraries do. I think it's better to have a system that will translate into the real world, KWIM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 (edited) Alphabetically by author. Within an author I may make an exception for putting a series together in order. I don't separate genres or classics. I do separate anthologies if they are multi-author and poetry. Historical fiction is with fiction. The above is for the "adult" books. For the kids school books I typically shelve historical fiction with history. Sometimes I keep books that will be assigned reading separate from other books. I still tend to group authors though, with separate sections for mythology, fairy tales, and poetry. Edited February 21, 2009 by JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenS Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 All my age books are mixed together, sorted by author, with the exception of the picture books which get the lowest shelves. And several series books have bins stuck on shelves, so it fits more. I do keep the poetry separate, but I don't separate the fiction any other way. I own thousands of books and this is just easier. (My 'adult' books are fairly clean so I don't mind them being on the shelves with kids' books.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Alphabetical by author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayle in Guatemala Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Well, I'm different! I arrange them according to time period since we mostly read them for history or the kids are interested in a certain period of history and want to read about it. Also, if it doesn't fit into a certain time period, I arrange it by theme because it's easier for my dc to find it if I say, "All the horse books are on the third shelf." Or, "All the mysteries are on the top shelf." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 In depends on if you're asking about adult or kid's books. Kid's historical fiction is mostly with the non-fiction books that they relate to. Then I have a couple shelves of general kid fiction. I tend to not have enough room to keep out all the kids' history books. So, for example Mr. Revere and I would probably go into a box with other US history if I took that off the shelf. I give exceptions to books that get reread. They get to go into general fiction without regard to their period, unless that's what we're studying right then. If it is adult, then it tends to be lumped into categories like romantic/mystery (Sayers, Austin) or what we term "crackin' good reads" which includes science fiction, the Sharpe series, Hornblower and any military related fiction. I don't have that many volumes of poetry. They tend to clump together, but some do sneak over to the picture book area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Historical fiction are stored in historical time period. Poetry is separate, unless it is a compilation of specifically historical poetry. General literature is on its own shelf. Due to space limitations, I forced myself to purge most of these. First, I had my nine year old pick out his favorite chapter books -- only as many as would fit on a shelf in his room. He chose things like The Hobbit, Spiderwick Chronicles, Magic Tree House, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, A.A. Milne, Aesop, etc. Then, I set aside all very special and/or out of print literature because it would be hard to just borrow from the library. I boxed up all other chapter books that could easily be borrowed from the library to sell at my next yard sale. Picture books are on a bookcase along with audio books in the boys' room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 Thanks for everyone's replies, they were all very helpful and inspiring. I think I got things arranged better, at least I have some room for growth. Before I felt like everything was crammed in there and I was actually having to wedge new books in on a shelf :001_unsure: These are just homeschooling books. If you followed along the wall to the left (and around the corner) we have all our general nonfiction books for adults (mostly history, also religions, languages, science, and of course the ton of computer books that just never seem to go away (or be used much :glare: )). This is in the basement. Upstairs we have a room full of our Islamic books (religious books like hadith and tafsir, commentaries, history, etc.), a wall in the hallway for my personal fiction reading (I try to limit myself to what can fit on the shelves, periodically shifting out a few to be resold), and shelves in the kids' rooms for their "leisure reading". It is a lot of books, dh and I are both addicted, but we also don't have access to a suitable library so we kind of are trying for a library-at-home. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgilli3 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Love it Kate! I just spent yesterday rearranging our books. I wish we had the room for more shelves- may need to add an extra room or 2! Perhaps we can turn our separate Majlis into a library! I ended up putting my historical fiction with the non-fiction ( divided the shelves by subject eg : history, religion, art etc...) We have always had lots of books- more so now- for the same reason as you- no access to a decent library! I went to the opening of a new library in Sharjah ( set up by expat mums)...it had 6 shelves...that was it. After battling the traffic to get there, getting lost 4 times, ringing hubby 3 times, and rolling up to the Islamic Civilization Museum all hot and flustered...I found I was still at the wrong place...lol It was in a small room in the Islamic Handicrafts building ( miles from me - I'm on the Ajman border...and Im only new to driving here- it was a nightmare!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Mine were organized by category 3 moves ago. Last move, my dad put the books up, they were mostly not in any order whatsoever. (I didn't complain too much, they did come help us unpack, it's not fun.) This move, my husband did the books. His books are in order, and he tried to put mine in order. They are better than when my dad arranged them. The current homeschooling books are arranged and in a separate location. We move again this summer, so I'm not highly motivated to organize them anytime soon. It does take me longer to find a book when I want it, but not so long that I can justify reorganizing them all for just a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Kjeld...in CA Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Our system: 1) Historical Fiction books are labeled with the Dewey number for that time period but also have a Historical Fiction label (purchased from Demco) so my kids can recognize immediately that it's a work of fiction. 2) All poetry books go in the Dewey number for poetry except for ones like Rhymes for Ancient Times which go in the right time period so they don't get missed. 3) All fiction books that are not historical are labeled with the first initial of the author and then also have reading level labels (also purchased from Demco) so my kids can easily choose books at the right level. Hope this helps! I love having an organized library! Everything is also on a database using Readerware that all computers in the house can search. I love it! Joy! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 Perhaps we can turn our separate Majlis into a library! I love having a separate Majlis; we had them install a shower in the half-bath in ours, so we can use it as a 'guesthouse' (anyone want to come visit??). Right now it's set up like a 1-room apartment, but I have thought about making it into a 1-room schoolhouse, lol. I went to the opening of a new library in Sharjah ( set up by expat mums)...it had 6 shelves...that was it. There actually is a public library in Ras al-Khaimah, and they do have a separate children's room, but the English books are about two small shelves' worth. Otherwise, there's a lady here who sort of runs a used book business, but it's nothing "official" and you basically have to call her to arrange to see what she has in storage. We're having a flea market here in a month and I'm hoping she'll come again (she came to one we had in September). We have talked among homeschoolers I know in the UAE to try and set up a book exchange, but just the physicality of hauling books around and all seemed daunting.. and we even set up a Yahoo group to kind of pool resources, but it never got off the ground. I'm on the Ajman border Well then you're not too far from us! You just hop on Emirates Road and take it until it ends, takes about half an hour for me to get to Ajman. I'll be taking the kids to the Wildlife Centre again when we finish up talking about reptiles and amphibians, we should meet up! Oh, and if interested come to the flea market (to buy or sell, lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgilli3 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Our Majlis also has a separate bathroom, and a small cooking area. It will eventually be used as a guest room, and also my hubby's office ( currently he uses the maids room out the back) At the moment, we have some of our labourers staying in it. Our landlord has been great, as where the men were staying was being demolished and we were struggling to find a suitable place for them, so our LL fixed the Majlis up for them ( already had bathroom- but he added kitchen), and he will keep his eye out for something suitable for them. Our neighbours may not be renewing their lease ( LL owns it too), so we are hoping to move them next door. We were members of the library in Dubai at the Mall of the Emirates- but it doesnt suit to travel there now, so we just buy the books as we need them. I think "Helping Hands" ( who look after labourers welfare) are having a book sale in 2 weeks- so I will try and get to that. Love to meet you at the Wildlife Park ( I actually think I know how to get there..lol)...and YES- please let me know when the flea market is on as we would love to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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