Got Books? Tips To Decluttering and Organizing Your Personal Library

What better way to spend a cold rainy evening than curled up with a good book or flipping through a recent edition of your favorite magazine. But wow, do books multiply in the night by any chance?

Unlike other consumer products like clothes, computers, shoes etc…books rarely breakdown or deteriorate so getting rid of them isn’t something we tend to do very often. Typically books end up in every corner of our homes. From book cases and bedside tables to kitchen cupboards and living rooms books are likely everywhere. I understand that some people enjoy having a large number of books and display them neatly in a book case or on a shelving unit and that’s cool! It just certainly is not for me.

So how do you go about limiting, displaying, and organizing the books you do have? And how do you dispose of what you no longer need? The following are some ideas that may help you address these issues.

Reduce book clutter

Round them up: The best way to start organizing your books is to take an inventory of what you have. Gather up every single book and spread them out on a large table or in the middle of the floor. Check every corner of your house for books – bedrooms, tables, bookcases, shelves, living room, bathrooms, dining room – EVERYWHERE.

Sort them out: Group books according to subject or categories. These may include organizing, reference, travel, fiction, biography, photography, etc. Be sure to create a pile to address each and every book.

Trim the fat: If you are anything like we used to be the you have way too many books. If you are looking to simplify your home and reduce clutter now is the time to be ruthless with your book collection. Start with one category and keep only the essentials. I find it helpful to ask a few questions:

Have I read it?

Will I read it again?

Will I read it in the next year?

Is it adding value to my life or is it adding clutter?

Is this easily available somewhere else? (Library, friend or family?)

Is similar information available for free on the internet?

The answer to these questions should help you clarify whether or not you want to or should keep certain books. I won’t lie it is very tough to get rid of books as they are, like I said above, typically in really good shape or as good as new. Remember to keep the vision of what you want your space to look like in mind once you’re finished and keep going!

Organizing and displaying books

By genre or category: If you have many books in a few categories try grouping by these. Stack some horizontally and top with a picture or item that fits the category. As an example stack 3-4 books on travel horizontally and top with a large seashell or picture of yourself on holiday. By adding items other than books to your book shelves you add interest and it draws the eye to your collection without it being too overwhelming. I’ve included a picture (left) of one of our book shelves that has recently been decluttered so you can see what I mean.

By height: If you have a lot of books that vary in height try lining them up. Going from tallest to shortest is usually most pleasing to the eye. It also helps to split books over a few shelves and staggering the collections adds a bit of whimsy.

By author: If you have many books that you just can’t bear to part with then organizing alphabetically might be a good choice. By sorting books according to author’s last name it makes it a lot easier to locate a book so you won’t spend too much time searching.

Disposing of unwanted books

Donate: Donating books is one of the best ways to dispose of unwanted books. Libraries are usually quite willing to accept new books to put into circulation. You may also want to try churches, women’s shelters, or goodwill. If it’s kids books that need a new home try a pre-school or daycare. If they are collector’s items you may want to consider donating to a museum.

Sell: You can sell any books you have either at a garage sale or online via eBay or craigslist. If they are collectors items you may wish to have them appraised and sell them at an auction.

Avoid regressing

Now that you have your book shelves all spic and span and looking rather sexy, let’s not go back to our old ways! Next time you want to buy a book refer to the questions I listed above. Try getting the book or magazine from the library, they often have a lot of new release material. Check with family or friends, see if they have the book or know of someone else who would be willing to lend it out. There are a number of ways to obtain books without purchasing them and they are certainly worth looking into. You get the best of both worlds: a good read, which you can return when you’re done and no more book clutter.

Do you have any other tips on decluttering books, organizing what you have or ideas on disposing of unwanted items? If so head to the comments and tell us about it!

Photo courtesy of: guldfisken