Have you ever not been able to find a book that you knew you had? Books are a great addition to any household, but they do take up a lot of space and require organization. This is a guide about organizing your book collection.
Books are among my most valued treasures! I believe they are part of what makes my house a home. As a senior citizen, I'd like to share with you what I have learned.
Don't store books in your bedroom. Books collect a lot of dust and sometimes mildew which is actually mold. Dust and mold aggravate allergies and sleep apnea which in turn effect the quality of your sleep. So for your health's sake, I encourage you to not use your bedroom for storage. Keep it easy to clean.
I believe floor to ceiling built-in shelving to be best for book storage. However, my family uses the inexpensive particle board shelving units. These units are practical as they can be moved. They fit nicely inside a closet for added shelving there.
When you visit garage sales, flea markets, or antique stores, look for shelves that can be used for books. My daughter uses a short unit at the end of the island in her kitchen to store her cook books. My sister uses a wooden shoe shelf as storage space on her countertop in the kitchen. My son in law put a couple of these wooden shoe racks on top of the shelf in his coat closet and made added shelves there for photo albums, etc. The good part about portable shelving is that you can take it with you when you move!
I have always liked a bookcase with doors because it helps control dust. I sometimes consider using my old, outdated china closet for book storage. Maybe you have one of those, too.
I use my childhood antique chest with three drawers for storage of my music books. I use one for piano music, one for organ music, and one for special occasion music like weddings or Christmas.
Sometimes I think of my beloved books as clutter! Pare down your collection as much as possible. Bless the lives of others with your books. I trade books at: http://www.paperbackswap.com
I look forward to reading your ideas for storage of books.
By Carol from Wyoming, PA
My solution has four facets:
Oversize books and skinny craft pamphlets and music books can be kept in a legal file in hanging file folders. As I have sold books on Amazon for over 6 years, I find this the easiest way to find them and store them without getting bunged corners and serious shelf ware.
I have almost 1800 books listed, and this is how I keep from being buried under an avalanche of books. Voila, if you follow these 4 steps you will find your books organized and easy to find.
Source: This is my own solution, but please give credit to Amazon and to Paper Back Swap.
By Leila B. from Brookings, OR
I have organized my books first by subject, for example: home improvement, health, autobiographies, gardening, true crime, Oprah collection, spiritual, fiction, and non-fiction. Then I put authors together in the subject area.
I built a book shelf in my sun room with movable dividers, this way if one collection gets bigger, you can move the divider instead of all the books.
By Cheryljaneway from Roann, IN
If you have a computer, for the simplest way to organize your book would be to list them in alphabetical order. With that list, place them in a book shelves, starting from left to right (directional reading).
Another way to list them would be doing it by categories , and inside each category, list them in alphabetical order. On such a list, you should make three columns : title of the book, lent to (name of person) and returned date. Very often you can lend some book to some other person and forget when and to whom. Some people just seem to keep them forever.
By Olga
Most book lovers eventually encounter the same problem sooner or later: how to organize their book collection. If you have a few books then this might not be such a problem. When you start entering the triple digits, however, organization becomes essential when it comes to finding the book that you are looking for.
There are different ways of organizing your books and they don't all have to center around the card catalog. Although categorizing them by genre, author, and title is one way to go about it, it's not the only way.
The first thing you want to consider is the type of books you have. Do you have any special ones? Are there ones that are signed or first editions? If so, then these should be separated from the other ones. Are there books that you often need to get to at a moment's notice? If there are books that you need for your work or that you just enjoy reading over and over then find a special place for them that's near your desk, bed, couch, or wherever you are when you tend to read them.
When you are in the mood to read something do you generally tend to think of your books by genre or author? If you think of them by author then this is the way that you should organize them. Group all of the books together by the same author and then alphabetize those books. In this method, organizing your entire collection alphabetically is a good idea.
On the other hand, when you're in the mood to read something and you choose your material by genre then you might want to consider separating your books into genre first and then by author. For instance, on one shelf you might have romances and include your Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele books. On another shelf you might have your horror genre with your Stephen King and Peter Straub books. Organizing your books this way will help you find the book that you want depending on the mood that you are in.
You can also organize by size. If you're placing them on a shelf then start with the largest and work your way down to the smallest. Or, you can lay the largest one down and stack the others on top of it, largest to smallest.
Some people are fortunate enough to have large spaces and can fit lots of nice, big bookshelves into their homes. Others have smaller spaces. So how can you organize your books in a small space? Try using flat boxes that can slide under your bed. You can also try stacking your books rather than placing them side-by-side which is actually better for the books anyway!
My problem is that I don't know how to organize my books. I have alot of them and lots of shelves. Am I supposed to do them by author or subject or something?
Thanks for your advice!
By Maryeileen
06/13/2011
I organize my books by subject. (Animals, health, cookbooks, herbs, etc.)
I am looking for an inexpensive way to store all my daughters books. She is 2, loves books and has SO MANY! At first, I used a jumbo diaper box, but since she has accumulated more, it is overflowing and she can't see what books she has. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
I have lots of books (ones I use and reread) that I would like to be able to organize. How do you go about organizing your books. I have books for reference, cook books, novels, and non fiction.
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By ms (Guest Post)
