Saturday, October 23, 2010

Getting Real About Books We Own

This weekend I'm letting go of hundreds more books from our shelves.

I can't take the overload. The unused books gather dust that needs cleaning and tending.

The books we want to use have no room on the shelves.

What's the point of putting them in boxes to store away? Will they ever really be used?

This weekend I've culled adult fiction, adult nonfiction, memoirs (for adults). I have let go of some of my favorite parenting books that I read and used.

I've put the railroad and train books in boxes to go into a closet as I just can't let them go yet.

Next on the list of what to go through are the cookbooks, gardening books, and reference books. I may also confront my antique children's book collection which has done nothing but grace the shelves with their presence.

I want the books in our home to be accessible and cleanly stored. I want access to books we use.

(I also need to decide what to do with these books. I wonder if the used book shop that loves antique and vintage books and also book collections by topic would like to buy some of these.)

4 comments:

JeniferRiddle said...

Have you thought of giving the books to a homeless day center? I volunteer at one that has a beautiful library thanks to donations from people like yourself. :)

Have a beautiful day.

Jeannette said...

Our public library system accepts books. What they cannot use they sell on amazon

Denise said...

Hi there! I've been a member of bookmooch.com for years. There's no fee... the concept is: you list the books you're done with, other people who want those books will be notified that they're available, and the only cost to you is what it costs to send a requested books. As you earn points for moochers requesting/getting your books, you then can "spend" those points to request books you want & then that moocher sends it on his/her dime. It's very easy & I love getting a book in the mail :-)

Denise

christinemm said...

Thanks Denise. I am a member of Paperbackswap.com and love it. However I have to pay to ship a book out, now about $3 per book after delivery confirmation fees and print postage at home fees. I have 30-40-50-60 boxes of books in my basement. First if I list them all and even a portion does swap out I will be spending a fortune. Second, I don't want to warehouse upwards of 1000 or more books holding waiting for someone to request them.

I did post some books on PaperBackSwap this weekend and 19 swapped out, that's about $70 in fees I PAID OUT.

If I just resell those in my basement for 50 cents or $1 I will have made money not shelled it out.

I also have over 30 credits already at PaperBackSwap waiting to use to get books.

I have over 8000 books in this house so I need some to go out and to NOT be replaced back in equal numbers! LOL!
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