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Original poster

What to do with my book collection...

11 replies

PassTheTwiglets · 08/05/2011 17:43

Ladies, I need help - WHAT shall I do about all our books?! In the kids playroom we have a whole wall of floor to ceiling shelving, filled with literally hundreds of my and DH's books. They make the room look so untidy, they are spilling over the shelves and they are taking up space that I could really do with space for the kids toys. We have a cull every now and again but there are still silly amounts. We are never going to read at least 80% of them ever again and if we ever did want to read one again unexpectedly then they are a matter of pence on ebay. So there is no Earthly reason to keep them all - BUT we feel sentimental about them. It would be almost like getting rid of who we are - all our interests and hobbies over the years gone just like that! Does that matter though? Do we really NEED to keep loads of astronomy books that I collected when I could easily look up anything I wanted to know on the internet? Does DH really need his 50+ history books? I just can't decide what to do. I know it's not exactly a problem in the grand scheme of things but it is seriously stressing me out! I suppose many of them could go in a box in the loft (if it ever gets boarded out) but once they go in the loft they'll never come out again so surely we as well be rid of them anyway. ARGH, it's driving me crazy. Do you all have large book collections and if so, where do you keep them?

I need convincing arguments to either chuck them or keep them - and if you could all agree in advance that would be fabulous, thanks :)

OP posts:
Oakmaiden · 08/05/2011 17:47

I have a huge book collection. I have lined the walls of my dining room with book cases, and have 4 bookcases in the sitting room too. And they are jammed full, with books stacked on top.

But I love them, and they are staying. I did get rid of books about 10 years ago (a few hundred of them) and have regretted it ever since.

WowOoo · 08/05/2011 17:51

I can't let go of a lot of mine either.

Novels that are still in good condition i try to get credit for on Greenmetropolis.com. They don't pay you, but you get £3 for every book sold. Doesn't solve your problem though!

I'd been doing this thing where if I have not looked at the book for 6 months then i had to get rid. But, I have so many sentimental books too that I couldn't charity shop the lot. But i got rid of some.

stofstg · 08/05/2011 17:54

yeah i love my book and cd collections. its always nice for people to see what you have read up on when people visit. well i always like to nose at what others book collections are when visiting.

Original poster
PassTheTwiglets · 08/05/2011 17:55

I think that's exactly what worries me, Oakmaiden - what if we regret it?! There are loads that I would never get rid of, it's the others that I'm not sure about what to do with - the ones we haven't got round to reading in 20 years (so will we ever?) or the ones that we used to be interested in years ago but aren't now, or the ones I quite enjoyed reading but doubt I will ever read again.

OP posts:
Original poster
PassTheTwiglets · 08/05/2011 18:04

Maybe I could put half of them in the loft for now, to make room for toys and then bring them down again when either (a) the kids have outgrown toys once they're older or (b) we get proper bookshelves in other rooms (living rooms not decorated properly yet).

OP posts:
eatyourveg · 08/05/2011 18:17

don't chuck them - my children have had tons of enjoyment from books that I had as a child that my parents kept eg Ladybird Peter and Jane originals, a few Janet & Johns, Robert Louis Stevenson's a child's garden of verse, AA Milne's poetry,Living world of Knowledge, History, Nature etc etc

ds1 (17) now enjoying all the literature and poetry we collected over the years.

I couldn't chuck any of them- they are like family heirlooms. Pack yours into crates and put them in the attic if you are really desperate for space, but I really think it would be scandalous not to keep them.

Original poster
PassTheTwiglets · 08/05/2011 22:15

I keep ones that I think the children might like - oh heck, that reminds me that DD has a cupboard full of old books that probably need sorting through too!!

Decision made then - will keep them. Thank you!!

OP posts:
leeloo1 · 09/05/2011 15:26

I took 20 bags of books to our Red Cross bookshop a few months ago, its very satisfying (although quite traumatic at the time - and about the 5th time I'd attempted to cull them). In the end I decided I didn't want DS to grow up thinking hoarding was normal. I still have a few 100 books (as does 2.5 year old DS) but I do plan to cull again. Many of the ones I kept are the ones from when I was a kid rather than more recent ones.

If I was you I'd look at sets of books - i.e. the astronomy ones and you may find you love 2 of them and 10 are makeweights you can put in a bag to donate somewhere. Keep going and see if you can clear a few shelves. You may find it gives you motivation to kep going. :)

DonaAna · 09/05/2011 17:36

I think books make any room look much better, but the key is to buy or have built enough shelves so that you can arrange them in neat rows (all the way up to the ceiling). IKEA ones are pretty wretched, they sag under a heavy load, so build decent ones. I'm sure there are some books you can get rid of - the titles you never liked, the plane reading you forgot to donate to bookcrossing.com, the horrible spy novel someone thought your husband liked - get rid of them. But keep the rest.

I think I have well over 1000 books. Most of ours are pretty well arranged in one room in our apartment, the entrance hall, which would otherwise be a wasted space. I do have over 100 cooking and household related ones in the kitchen, but I need to get more shelving too.

Always when I go to a house I scan the bookshelves. They tell more about your than you'd ever think. They tell how cultured and literate you and your family are. I'd love an eclectic collection of astronomy books. My parents have everything under the rainbow, including zoology books from the 19th century. I grew up with them, and TBH I'd get rid of some toys but keep the books.

I'd love to get rid of some of my medical textbooks, but all of a sudden DD is developing interest in them. And I'm so happy my parents kept all their childhood books, I'm very attached to them and you can't buy them easily any more.

But maybe you should limit future purchases? Get yourself a Kindle and use the local library more? I've restricted myself somewhat for the past year and it's been great...

Original poster
PassTheTwiglets · 09/05/2011 19:02

That seems a very sensible way of doing it, Dona - cull but keep!

OP posts:
dweezle · 11/05/2011 15:01

We went through this on return from Oz some years ago - books were taking over the house and would have doubled the size of the shipping container we needed.

Get rid of any books read but not enjoyed and will never be read again.

Get rid of all classics in paperback - i.e. Brontes, Dickens, Austen, Hardy etc - these can be borrowed from library, or, to my great delight, are free to download to kindle (I have replaced most of my 'classics' since getting a Kindle for Christmas.

Try and read one previously unread book a week, and get rid if not enjoyed.

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