Thanks for telling the tale and including the pictures. Wonderful. As the owner of 3,500+ volumes — and nearing retirement — I’m hoping g to keep much of my library with me. 📚
I love this. Your story of your loving owning books, and finding/creating space for them - all the way back to loving getting Scholastic books in school. I also remember ordering those, and loving reading and owning them. I still own almost all those books. I used to have 5 bookcases of books - but ever so many fewer than you. In my case, I have given away about half - those that had no emotional resonance for me. You are even more of a book-lover than me - and have a loving husband who has helped the book keeping side of you. Wonderful to read your story.
That’s a wonderful “book annex” you have in the Priory, Karen. I have something in excess of 4,000 books myself, and they are mostly in four rooms of my house. One of my late colleagues, when he retired with many more books than I have, built a new home with one large room that had rows of free-standing two-sided shelves like a true library. Your Priory reminds me of that. Great job organizing!
It was so much work. If I had nothing else to do, I’d do even better. But at least I can (mostly) find my books now. And slowly keep refining the organization.
Drool. I was going to ask if you had room for more books because I suspect you (if you are like me) will still be gathering more for the collection. However, I watched the video and saw there is space! One question I have is do you have a dehumidifier in The Priory? I had a moisture problem in one of the places I lived and came back after several weeks to find mold growing on my books. Now I am very careful about managing humidity/moisture around my books. The second question I have is- what percentage of your books have you read? Thanks for the post!!
When I was a little girl, I went through a period of detailed planning of my future home, drawing layouts, arrangement of rooms, etc. I can no longer remember how many bedrooms or bathrooms I included but a dedicated library was a constant and a non-negotiable.
I lived in apartments for my first twelve years of post-university, post grad school adulthood in Belgium and while there were always bookshelves, there was no possibility of a room just for books.
When I moved back to the US in 2012, I prayed for the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood (I wanted a home with enough room to host guests, I wanted no shared walls, I wanted a garden, I wanted a neighborhood church, I hoped for a library).
I got it all. At some point in its hundred year history, a previous owner added a second floor to the house. The stairs cut into what was once a bedroom and changed the placement and size of the doorframe, making it difficult to find a door that fits properly and too small and awkward as a bedroom. It is perfect as a library.
I have followed with delight the development of your library on Instagram. Thank you so much for sharing this story.
I've watched the videos too. I just can't love this whole story enough. The end result (even the process, really) looks wonderful and reflects how Bill and I think about our own library. So are you going to start a consulting business for physically organizing home libraries? We could hire you... ;-)
With regard to a database, we have used LibraryThing for 15+ years and love it. It's easy to use and very customizable. We have over 3500 books stored there. With their tag system, you can organize your online library any way you want AND in multiple ways (e.g. keyword, location, and/or code). You can add books manually, by scanning barcodes, and/or by ISBN. One of our favorite features is that LibraryThing will tell you how many other members have a particular book (no names, just a number). It's a personal triumph to be the only holder of a particular book. They also have an app that's saved me from buying duplicates. The whole system is technically free though we gave $25 years ago and also bought a scanner (this was before cell phones with pic/barcode tech). As I look back at my comment, I realize we really should give them more money. Anyway, I highly recommend LibraryThing. It's sanity-saving tech. (And, no, I have never worked for them....haha.)
Here is a video tour: https://substack.com/@karenswallowprior/note/c-340774325?r=90e4e&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Thanks for telling the tale and including the pictures. Wonderful. As the owner of 3,500+ volumes — and nearing retirement — I’m hoping g to keep much of my library with me. 📚
I’m glad you are! Maybe you can enjoy them even more then.
I love this. Your story of your loving owning books, and finding/creating space for them - all the way back to loving getting Scholastic books in school. I also remember ordering those, and loving reading and owning them. I still own almost all those books. I used to have 5 bookcases of books - but ever so many fewer than you. In my case, I have given away about half - those that had no emotional resonance for me. You are even more of a book-lover than me - and have a loving husband who has helped the book keeping side of you. Wonderful to read your story.
Thank you for reading -- and relating! I'm lucky that my long-time vocation required me to have books!
That’s a wonderful “book annex” you have in the Priory, Karen. I have something in excess of 4,000 books myself, and they are mostly in four rooms of my house. One of my late colleagues, when he retired with many more books than I have, built a new home with one large room that had rows of free-standing two-sided shelves like a true library. Your Priory reminds me of that. Great job organizing!
It was so much work. If I had nothing else to do, I’d do even better. But at least I can (mostly) find my books now. And slowly keep refining the organization.
Oh so familiar story! We moved permanently to our summerhouse with something like four bookshelves. Then we sold the city apartment
That’s so lovely!
Karen! You must feel like this is a dream come true. Both your leisure library and The Priory are beautiful. Thank you for sharing and Happy Reading!
Drool. I was going to ask if you had room for more books because I suspect you (if you are like me) will still be gathering more for the collection. However, I watched the video and saw there is space! One question I have is do you have a dehumidifier in The Priory? I had a moisture problem in one of the places I lived and came back after several weeks to find mold growing on my books. Now I am very careful about managing humidity/moisture around my books. The second question I have is- what percentage of your books have you read? Thanks for the post!!
Thanks so much for the story and pictures about your library. Your husband sounds like a jewel. Now if I can just inspire my own along those lines…
When I was a little girl, I went through a period of detailed planning of my future home, drawing layouts, arrangement of rooms, etc. I can no longer remember how many bedrooms or bathrooms I included but a dedicated library was a constant and a non-negotiable.
I lived in apartments for my first twelve years of post-university, post grad school adulthood in Belgium and while there were always bookshelves, there was no possibility of a room just for books.
When I moved back to the US in 2012, I prayed for the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood (I wanted a home with enough room to host guests, I wanted no shared walls, I wanted a garden, I wanted a neighborhood church, I hoped for a library).
I got it all. At some point in its hundred year history, a previous owner added a second floor to the house. The stairs cut into what was once a bedroom and changed the placement and size of the doorframe, making it difficult to find a door that fits properly and too small and awkward as a bedroom. It is perfect as a library.
I have followed with delight the development of your library on Instagram. Thank you so much for sharing this story.
I've watched the videos too. I just can't love this whole story enough. The end result (even the process, really) looks wonderful and reflects how Bill and I think about our own library. So are you going to start a consulting business for physically organizing home libraries? We could hire you... ;-)
With regard to a database, we have used LibraryThing for 15+ years and love it. It's easy to use and very customizable. We have over 3500 books stored there. With their tag system, you can organize your online library any way you want AND in multiple ways (e.g. keyword, location, and/or code). You can add books manually, by scanning barcodes, and/or by ISBN. One of our favorite features is that LibraryThing will tell you how many other members have a particular book (no names, just a number). It's a personal triumph to be the only holder of a particular book. They also have an app that's saved me from buying duplicates. The whole system is technically free though we gave $25 years ago and also bought a scanner (this was before cell phones with pic/barcode tech). As I look back at my comment, I realize we really should give them more money. Anyway, I highly recommend LibraryThing. It's sanity-saving tech. (And, no, I have never worked for them....haha.)
What a happy day, to have a library of your own! May you enjoy many delightful hours in that beautiful space.