The author’s book shelf (Image: J. Ottman)
I recently purged my bookshelves. I got rid of every book I don’t plan to read again. I got rid of books
Jacquelyn Ottman’s book, If Trash Could Talk, inspires a new consumption culture in NYC.
I received as a gift but never intend to read. I got rid of books that I’m not sure how they appeared on my shelf.
I kept a few treasured art books. Some favorite green business and marketing books. My collection of books on creativity. A few books related to coping as a widow. Finally, I kept a few anthologies I always intended to read after from college but barely cracked since.
250 books out the door later, I realized all that was left on the shelf was me.
What do your bookshelves look like? Do you have books sitting there gathering dust that can have a new life in a new home?
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It reminds me of a photo I saw with someone’s library with nothing but a Kindle on it..So what happened to all the books you got rid of?
A big chunk of the books were green business books that I no longer need, so I donated them to the Baruch graduate business school library here in NYC. Overnite, they had a full green business library!
I donated other books to my local Housing Works. They love books there, and give me a tax deduction, too!
Funny, I must be a magnet for books, because the shelf is slowly filling up! (Better contact the Baruch folks soon!)
What do you do with your old books, Raz?
Good reuse of the books! I usually try to give them to friends or donate them if no one seems to like them 🙂
I recently cleared my bookshelf of the same disaster and found that now the books on the shelf finally scream “me”. What I did with the old ones? I donated them to a company called Better World Books. You can choose where your books are needed the most and if you so choose to purchase a book from them, you are aiding in individual literacy worldwide.
Purging the bookshelf is a constant in my life. As a book junkie, as well as someone who travels frequently and tends to move every few years, it’s always a struggle. I have compared three-story bookstores in Manhattan (The Strand, Barnes & Noble at Union Sq) to crack dens – and myself, a very addicted purchaser.
This is why I tend to lend books out to friends and not worry whether or not I ever get them back. I have also placed countless novels, short story collections and coffee table books on multiple stoops across the North East and NYC. I have donated hardcover editions to my local library as well. The quickest way (aside from a box full of books on the curb) to discard (or as I like to think of it, sharing) books you are no longer interested in keeping is to post a free Craig’s List “curb alert” http://newyork.craigslist.org/zip/ – directing people to your cross street with an announcement that a number of free items are available for pick up.
This is also a great tip for movers needing to discard anything ASAP.
First, your book selection looks like Christmas to me… LOVE reading about green marketing!
Recently I have been gifted many books, mostly related to the power of your mind over what you create in your life. I find those reads very interesting as well.
The best way to increase the value of a book is to give it away to someone else. Unless you know you really are going to read it again, leaving a book resting in a shelf makes it meaningless. It’s just a waste of room and knowledge. Maybe electronic books might be something to think about.
Hi Jacquie,
I felt an instant connection when I read your post! My father is an author and publisher and has been showering us with books our entire life. Our house is full of bookcases, stacked and piled with everything from science fiction to non-fiction. As children, my father would bring home books each week, often tailored to our current interests. Over time, these books became increasingly outdated and started to take up too much of my personal space.
Last summer, I decided it was time to clear my shelves, only keeping books that made lasting impressions. I made a list of everything I was willing to give away and categorized them. I talked to my little sisters and had them find out if any of their friends wanted these free books. After utilizing my family sales team, I went to the local public library and donated the rest. This experience was a great way to free up some cluttered space and find new homes for old books!
Warm regards,
David
When I got home from college this year, I completely cleaned out my bookshelf and I realized that I still had too many books to fit in it. What I decided to do was that I was going to read all the books that I knew I was going to read once and then I was going to drop the books into a box that I placed next to my bookshelf until I could fit everything that I wanted to keep in the bookshelf. At the end of the summer that box is going to my local thrift store. I counted on gaining space, but what I didn’t count on was the very satisfying sensation of dropping the finished book in to the box. I know that if I didn’t have that box sitting there, the books would be going back on to the shelf, probably never to be read again. I’m three books in!
Alexis, can’t tell you how hard it was getting rid of all those books. Only consolation: they were all going to good causes, like a business school who needed a collection of sustainability books and a library. After spending all this time sorting the books carefully and doling them out to just the right place, though, guess what’s happening? The bookshelf is filling up again! Can’t help myself. I love books – and referring to them, or lending them out.