When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?
Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)
And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?
I haven't unloaded books in years. In college, I regularly "sold" non-literature textbooks back to the bookstore. You better believe I kept all my Norton anthologies, because I'm cool like that. The BF and I have a pretty solid collection of books. However, since we live in an itty bitty apartment, our oodles of books are stored at our respective childhood homes. Thanks fam! And BF's fam! You guys are great--don't have a garage sale anytime soon. Please?
Behold our pitifully stocked Billy bookcase--I'm certain these books miss their OC cousins. I briefly weighed the pros/cons of keeping it real with those charming yellow USED stickers here.
And you my little librarians? How do you keep your collections in check? If at all?
6 comments:
That is not a pitiful collection by ANY means! That's quite a robust one, if you ask me! And I kept a few of my Norton anthologies too, haha! I keep all the books I really enjoyed on a shelf at home, categorized by author. All the books that I read that I wasn't WOWED with, I either sell back, give away, or donate. NEVER throw away! What a waste!
I have a question for you: How finicky are you about caring for your books? I'm the kind of person who'll bend the spine backwards, etc. while I read, but I won't write in them or dog-ear the pages. I have a friend who gives her books a beating with highlighters, pens, dog-ears, the works. Then I have another who is extremely meticulous about her literature - she holds them in a way where the spine will not crease! Where do you fall in book treatment?
I still have a few of my Norton anthologies as well! I find it hard to get rid of books; we have, um, more than one Billy bookcase. Double digits actually. I guess it is time to weed a little, though I find it very difficult!
Amy- Aw, thanks! If/when we clean out of parents' homes of our stored books, I'll take a new pick. Vive les Nortons! I'm not super finicky about the care of my own boos--I dog-ear and bend spines like tomorrow. For books I borrow, I'm always very considerate.
Melanie- Double digit billys?! Very impressive!!
I'm glad I don't do Booking through Thursday, right now. I'd have to confess and that would be awful!!
Yellow USED stickers add character.
I know what you mean. Although, having been a book dealer here locally for a few years, gave me the inside track to gain one of my life's treasures--a large rare book collection purchased from a well known dealer who was going out of business at his physical store. As for the rest of my previous inventory I kept the books I wanted, which I was fortunate to have industrial shelving to store. In the process, I believe that when I closed down my book dealership I gave away about 12,000 books. I'm happy to say I've kept the best of the best, and occasionally keep a look-out for a book to purchase, but that's far and few between probably for the rest of my life.
Bookfool- After reading lots of lots of posts on this topic, I discovered most book bloggers weed pretty regularly--very surprising! And yes, the USED stickers are the best!
David- Thanks for stopping by! Your collection sounds like a treasure trove, indeed. Very, very impressive. :)
Post a Comment