How are you all storing your books?

[11stoneTess]

I have hundreds of books. I'm feeling weighed down by them because I simply dont have space for them. They're piled up in every space I can find (on the shelf, in drawers, in boxes in the bottom of the wardrobe, behind the bathpanel, under the side tables etc...).

I'm so conflicted, I obviously love books, but I resent them taking over my home.

All new purchases are going on kindle, and, I have a library card. Will I regret giving them to charity?

You might have trouble giving them away to charity shops, especially after people have been clearing out during lockdown. Hopefully somebody will be around with some good ideas though.

Bookcases?

Not ALL of them have to go surely?. I did it years ago and at first I just missed the familiarity of the bookshelf, but I have now re-bought about 30 ish just to have them 'there'.
No reason for it as I have the kindle and internet, it just really felt something was missing

How about something like this?

Mummyoply, thats amazing! Sadly i'm in a flat.

Tadpoles, no space for bookcases either. Every inch of useable space is taken. Books are filling the gaps within exisiting storage.

lilmishap, I guess I could curate down to a smaller number, not zero. I find there are so many books to be read, I never quite get round to re-reading anything.

I'd love to move somewhere bigger, but thats not in the cards for at least another 5 years.

Look at each book and ask yourself 3 questions:
when did I last read it?
when will I next read it?
how hard is it to replace?

Built in bookshelves

We have book cases in most rooms. I buy lots of books and pre-Covid used to leave most in the help yourself bookcase at the local train station. Hopefully I will be able to get rid of the ones which have been building up during lockdown at some point. Could not live in a house with no books at all though.

I have a lot of books but they are all on bookcases and I use them frequently for work. Could you possibly squeeze in any shelving like this?

Look at how much space you've got for books as on, actual book shelves. Choose as many of your favourites as will fit in that space. Get rid of the rest. If it doesn't fit on the shelf it has to go. Be brutal. Unless it's a first edition Shakespeare or something, you can buy it again if you need to. There are sites where you can bulk sell books, or give them away in batches on Facebook/gumtree, or charity shop them. If they're in bad condition, recycle them. When you get the urge to read one you got rid of, pay the £2 or whatever it costs on Kindle. Honestly getting rid of the clutter (and it is clutter, if it's affecting you) this will pay dividends in the space you will have in your home once you have severed whatever emotional attachment you've got to the books. They're just things. I read a good book (ironically) called decluttering at the speed of life. It actually changed my life to get rid of so much stuff i was holding onto because i "might use it again one day."

I’m in a similar situation OP although we do have bookshelves. I have way too many books but I can’t bring myself to get rid of at at all. Lots that I haven’t read but giving them away feels like a sort of failure somehow. And I do re-read a lot so don’t like to get rid of those either. I’ve decided on a slow and steady approach of just maintaining a general outward flow ie always making sure more are leaving the house to charity shops or libraries than I am buying. You’re doing the right thing to embrace the kindle, I can’t get along with mine!

Shoehorning more storage in costs more money and won't reduce the clutter - you'd just be delaying the inevitable.

You just need to cull your collection. The books in boxes in your wardrobe are not bringing you any joy or adding anything to your life apart from clutter.

Just take a small area at a time, and really look at each book and decide if it is one to keep our get rid of.

I don't keep my books once read (apart from a couple I love and pick up every now and again.) Unless it's rare, sentimental or you're genuinely going to read it again I don't see the point. If you missed one you could always buy another copy.
The couple I've kept and the ones waiting to be read go in the drawer under my bed.

Can you add any extra shelves above doors/around the top of the room? I was/am a book hoarder but it was starting to get out of hand so I got strict and started passing more on. First of all you need to, don't hate me, have a full. You don't need to go mad, just start with any that you know deep know you will never touch again. Then make a pile of those that you aren't sure about right now and go back to it In a few weeks. In the meantime, try not to keep any that you finish unless you truly loved it or will really miss it/need it to refer back to. Again, you can always make a pile of these somewhere out of sight to go back to - you'll realise that you haven't even thought about any of them and it makes it easier to pass on.

If you do this, and keep it going you'll soon find that the piles start to reduce and you start to naturally keep less and less without thinking about it. With dipping into the old piles every few weeks - you'll become more ruthless.

You could try listing boxes of genres on Facebook maybe for collection, if no one round by you is collecting? Or check see if there any community libraries local to you that rely on donations?

Books are no different or more special than any other thing. People think they are, but they’re not.

I used to have loads, then I culled. I’ve not missed any of them. PP have given good advice - decide what storage you have (bookshelves), then keep only what fits on the shelf. Read, unread - only what fits on the shelf.

You’ll feel better for it.

Once we have more books than bookshelf space I go through and clear out.

The easiest way is to take everything and put them in one massive pile then look at them one by one into keep, maybe, get rid.

I really wouldn't get rid of all of your books though, especially if you have children. Having physical books in the home and seeing adults read them makes a big difference to how well they do at school.

If you have no book shelf space at all work out what else you can get rid of to make space for some books!

Get rid of all the books you haven't read in the past two years as your unlikely to read them again and they are starting to stress you.
I've recently started decluttering my books and I've kept about 20 hard backs as they look lovely on the bookshelf and about 20 paper backs as they are my favourites and get reread over and over again.

Five years ago I had multiple bookcases full of books. Many of the novels bought from charity shops etc, that you read once then never look at again.

Then DH was offered a job in Cyprus. Moving allowance, 13 cubic metres for a family of four. (Furnished house,) Those books I thought I needed, were the first thing I realised I didn't.
My one bookcase now has reference books, cook books, and favourite novels that I reread. Everything else is kindle. Masses of children's books, but they are still in the illustrated phase. Has made the last two international House moves a lot easier.

My advice is to pretend you are moving house. What would you want to pack.

I think there is a lot to be said for having books on shelves if you have children.

Any suggestions about how to declutter books, when the charity shops are refusing donations, and the local library likewise?

I really wouldn't get rid of all of your books though, especially if you have children. Having physical books in the home and seeing adults read them makes a big difference to how well they do at school.

Id be interested to see the evidence for that.

Jaffa list them on Facebook, webuybooks.com or recycle them.

@Jaffapaffa

Any suggestions about how to declutter books, when the charity shops are refusing donations, and the local library likewise?

This is my current problem, I’m not yet capable of putting them in the bin, but local charity shops are not accepting donations yet.

Freecycle, gumtree, shpock, Facebook marketplace, local sales pages on Facebook. Leave them outside your house with a sign on saying "free".