Joel - tough topic but important one. About a decade ago I had amassed around 1,500 volumes, most of which was fiction. Constantly moving in the military proved to be too much and I culled down to about 150 volumes. Since almost everything I got rid of was fiction I had already read, I didn't miss it much. I have slowly been building back up but being much more selective this time around on what I keep. Since I am retiring from the Navy this summer, we are going to start looking for a place to settle down and build a forever home. The intent is to have a dedicated library/reading room with built in shelves. I would like to have space for about 5,000 volumes with some of that being protective displays for the few collectible books I have. Now I normally use the library for "fast-fiction" as I like to call it.
Excellent thoughts! One additional criteria of mine is whether I'll pass it on to my children. I'm a big believer in leaving home libraries as a legacy, which is why I try to find good copies (hardback, if possible) of the classics so that they'll last as many generations as possible.
Excellent thoughts on personal libraries. A keeper. I only have 700, but they are carefully curated. It helps that I have a Free Little Library in my front yard for those good books that aren’t part of my Chosen. My book budget is greater than several other line item necessities … if only I could stay within budget…
I used to be extremely strict about which books I purchase and keep, only allowing those I loved and wanted to read multiple times. Now that I'm in my forever home, however, I'm permitting myself to keep books if they fit many of the criteria you've listed above. Also, your library of floor-to-ceiling shelves is my lifelong dream!
I have moved frequently and downsized, and I've had to get rid of books I really preferred to keep. Some of them I reacquired because I missed them. Unfortunately, I don't have an actual library. If I ever find myself single, I'll turn my hubby's office into a library. My criteria are much like yours for what to keep. For research, I try to use the public library, which also helps me choose which ones I want to add to my own library because they are so useful or so inspiring.
"So, when you run out of rooms, walls, and cases, what do you do?" That's easy. Build more rooms, walls, and cases. (Confessions of a hoarder.) Unless a book is a gift, it rarely enters my library (or stays there after I've read it) unless it promises at least some value. So, most get to stay—because books are tools to content creators, like tools to a carpenter. I constantly refer to them, and when an idea pops in my head, I run to the shelf where a volume I read ten years ago waits to offer help. I think of my library as a resource to draw from forever, like my own curated corner of a public library or bookstore.
This is an excellent way to think about how & when to let books go. For me, it seems important to have a personal criteria for what I keep or don't. This way my personal library keeps working for me.
So timely. I cull fiction reasonably easily, but the non-fiction is harder. We have about 3,000 books between us and I think it's about 1000 too many, my husband struggles with culling any at all. Slowly, slowly, we will get there. All our bookcases are freestanding, and I think if we went for built in floor to ceiling, it would be much easier to manage. Maybe this year...
Lifelong bookworm, but live in small spaces. A few years ago, I developed the perfect space saving bookshelf, a revolving bookshelf. At just over 1 square foot in width and length and 6' 4" high with 7 tiers of shelves of slightly varying heights (ranging from 8.5" to 11"), it holds 150+/- books. My library is still in a constant state of flux - I gift books that I liked but no longer have space for - but there is enough room for the books that are essential to me. I also use an e-reader, which is a great way to read new books and decide if you have to have a hard copy.
When I went through my divorce I gave away every physical book I owned. Not a huge library, but meaningful. Part of the whole, purging of the past mentality I found myself in. Fifteen years later, I think often of the books I gave away. And not in a "that was healthy" kind of way.
Perfect topic. I can’t find any disagreements in your artfully selected reasons for culling. I do have a dedicated library in our house. But there are spillover bookcases throughout. Yet still the need to cull arises daily, as more books seem to appear. The easiest items to cull, indeed never make it onto a shelf, are the genre fiction I read, as just a little mind candy to pass the time. (Ex. If I ever need to reread the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, again, well, there is always Abe Books.) Likewise, contemporary event books that comment on unfolding politics or trends are seldom needed, once read. More painfully over the years has been the gradual culling of bibliographies. I’ve kept some, but many more had to be jettisoned. (I’m still not sure of the wisdom of putting all of that material in the “safe” keeping of Mister Google.)
So, finally at age 61, my core collections have become:
A large selection of Louisiana titles on culture and history.
Southern history and culture
A vast collection of farming and agrarian titles.
P. G. Wodehouse
An ever-expanding collection of classical Roman and Greek authors.
Books on books
Cookbooks and culinary history
And then there are dozens of smaller collections: fiction, travel memoirs, hunting and fishing memoirs, to name a few.
Sigh, it really does come down in the end to one book in and one book out. This lifeboat has a limit.
Good ideas for ‘stay or keep’. I live in a flat. I have one large glass fronted reading book cupboard.there is no choice to increase the book load:) if i am not going to read it again, it goes to bring love elsewhere.
This has been helpful encouragement the last few days as I have been trying to downsize our current library for several reasons. As we homeschool our five year old, I know we’ll need room for “new” books. I’ve also recently become addicted to ThriftBooks so I keep buying “new” books for myself, too, and need more room. It’s encouraging reading the comments. It’s always fun to see how many book lovers there are out there!
Cracks me up when HGTV and Influencers recommend how to style bookshelves. Only 30% should be books? But they are called bookshelves!
Joel - tough topic but important one. About a decade ago I had amassed around 1,500 volumes, most of which was fiction. Constantly moving in the military proved to be too much and I culled down to about 150 volumes. Since almost everything I got rid of was fiction I had already read, I didn't miss it much. I have slowly been building back up but being much more selective this time around on what I keep. Since I am retiring from the Navy this summer, we are going to start looking for a place to settle down and build a forever home. The intent is to have a dedicated library/reading room with built in shelves. I would like to have space for about 5,000 volumes with some of that being protective displays for the few collectible books I have. Now I normally use the library for "fast-fiction" as I like to call it.
Excellent thoughts! One additional criteria of mine is whether I'll pass it on to my children. I'm a big believer in leaving home libraries as a legacy, which is why I try to find good copies (hardback, if possible) of the classics so that they'll last as many generations as possible.
Excellent thoughts on personal libraries. A keeper. I only have 700, but they are carefully curated. It helps that I have a Free Little Library in my front yard for those good books that aren’t part of my Chosen. My book budget is greater than several other line item necessities … if only I could stay within budget…
I used to be extremely strict about which books I purchase and keep, only allowing those I loved and wanted to read multiple times. Now that I'm in my forever home, however, I'm permitting myself to keep books if they fit many of the criteria you've listed above. Also, your library of floor-to-ceiling shelves is my lifelong dream!
I have moved frequently and downsized, and I've had to get rid of books I really preferred to keep. Some of them I reacquired because I missed them. Unfortunately, I don't have an actual library. If I ever find myself single, I'll turn my hubby's office into a library. My criteria are much like yours for what to keep. For research, I try to use the public library, which also helps me choose which ones I want to add to my own library because they are so useful or so inspiring.
"So, when you run out of rooms, walls, and cases, what do you do?" That's easy. Build more rooms, walls, and cases. (Confessions of a hoarder.) Unless a book is a gift, it rarely enters my library (or stays there after I've read it) unless it promises at least some value. So, most get to stay—because books are tools to content creators, like tools to a carpenter. I constantly refer to them, and when an idea pops in my head, I run to the shelf where a volume I read ten years ago waits to offer help. I think of my library as a resource to draw from forever, like my own curated corner of a public library or bookstore.
I found an awesome idea for my TBR list! Cover them in wrap, number them, and then draw tickets! Fun! 📖
This is an excellent way to think about how & when to let books go. For me, it seems important to have a personal criteria for what I keep or don't. This way my personal library keeps working for me.
So timely. I cull fiction reasonably easily, but the non-fiction is harder. We have about 3,000 books between us and I think it's about 1000 too many, my husband struggles with culling any at all. Slowly, slowly, we will get there. All our bookcases are freestanding, and I think if we went for built in floor to ceiling, it would be much easier to manage. Maybe this year...
Lifelong bookworm, but live in small spaces. A few years ago, I developed the perfect space saving bookshelf, a revolving bookshelf. At just over 1 square foot in width and length and 6' 4" high with 7 tiers of shelves of slightly varying heights (ranging from 8.5" to 11"), it holds 150+/- books. My library is still in a constant state of flux - I gift books that I liked but no longer have space for - but there is enough room for the books that are essential to me. I also use an e-reader, which is a great way to read new books and decide if you have to have a hard copy.
When I went through my divorce I gave away every physical book I owned. Not a huge library, but meaningful. Part of the whole, purging of the past mentality I found myself in. Fifteen years later, I think often of the books I gave away. And not in a "that was healthy" kind of way.
Am I the only one who ranks books by smell?
Culling a deeply scented book that invokes old libraries and memories is out of the question.
Perfect topic. I can’t find any disagreements in your artfully selected reasons for culling. I do have a dedicated library in our house. But there are spillover bookcases throughout. Yet still the need to cull arises daily, as more books seem to appear. The easiest items to cull, indeed never make it onto a shelf, are the genre fiction I read, as just a little mind candy to pass the time. (Ex. If I ever need to reread the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, again, well, there is always Abe Books.) Likewise, contemporary event books that comment on unfolding politics or trends are seldom needed, once read. More painfully over the years has been the gradual culling of bibliographies. I’ve kept some, but many more had to be jettisoned. (I’m still not sure of the wisdom of putting all of that material in the “safe” keeping of Mister Google.)
So, finally at age 61, my core collections have become:
A large selection of Louisiana titles on culture and history.
Southern history and culture
A vast collection of farming and agrarian titles.
P. G. Wodehouse
An ever-expanding collection of classical Roman and Greek authors.
Books on books
Cookbooks and culinary history
And then there are dozens of smaller collections: fiction, travel memoirs, hunting and fishing memoirs, to name a few.
Sigh, it really does come down in the end to one book in and one book out. This lifeboat has a limit.
Good ideas for ‘stay or keep’. I live in a flat. I have one large glass fronted reading book cupboard.there is no choice to increase the book load:) if i am not going to read it again, it goes to bring love elsewhere.
This has been helpful encouragement the last few days as I have been trying to downsize our current library for several reasons. As we homeschool our five year old, I know we’ll need room for “new” books. I’ve also recently become addicted to ThriftBooks so I keep buying “new” books for myself, too, and need more room. It’s encouraging reading the comments. It’s always fun to see how many book lovers there are out there!