Organize those books!
Ok, you now know what to do with cast off books, but obviously, you don’t want to get rid of all of them. Here are a number of options for organizing and storing your collection.
The library has a number of books related to cleaning up clutter, storage ideas and building bookcases. I came across the neatest idea on the Internet the other day: here’s a link to a blog with pictures of a book case that forms a staircase! Sound a little too challenging for you, or maybe you already have a staircase? Check out one of these books.
There are a number of websites that help keep track of the books you’ve got at home. LibraryThing is a particularly wonderful one. You can organize and catalog your books, keep track of the books you have read, and even get suggestions for other books you might like based the books you already own/have read. I personally use LibraryThing as a reading history. Each time I finish another library book (or buy a new personal book), I visit the website to enter the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) and fill out when I finished it. I use LibrayThing to discover what I might like to read that I’ve overlooked. Even as a librarian, surrounded by books all day long, I am occasionally at a loss for something to read. LibraryThing uses a formula to make recommendations based on what is in your library using the idea that other people who have the same books as you also frequently have this other book that you may want to try also. Neat neat.
Another organizing website is Shelfari. I haven’t used that one much simply because I discovered LibraryThing first, and I love it, but Shelfari has plenty of other people who do use it. The concept is very similar to LibraryThing. Both are free to use (LibraryThing is free for up to 200 books, Shelfari is supported by advertisements.)
A note: there are other book cataloging websites. Gurulib and GoodReads are just two more. Take a look around the Internet and see what else is available. If one site doesn’t fit your needs, try another.
So now we’ve figured out how to store and organize those books you’ve decided to keep. My next post should have some interesting ideas for using books in unconventional ways.