Personal Library Weeding

[muichimotsu]

This applies more to my books than DVDs and such, though I'm also going through them and have been pecking away. Got a solid exchange about 2 weeks ago, though it wasn't just my books that got me enough money that I need to go back and focus on getting books next time (only got 2 this time, primarily DVDs and TV shows)

At this point, it's as much trying to weed out stuff in subjects of interest along with trying to still weed out stuff in the smaller categories

 

[ChristineM]

This applies more to my books than DVDs and such, though I'm also going through them and have been pecking away. Got a solid exchange about 2 weeks ago, though it wasn't just my books that got me enough money that I need to go back and focus on getting books next time (only got 2 this time, primarily DVDs and TV shows)

At this point, it's as much trying to weed out stuff in subjects of interest along with trying to still weed out stuff in the smaller categories

Before we moved to France we had a library of around 4000 books.

I would have loved to bring
them all with us but it just wasn't practical. To create a library in this house would mean selling one of the children ;-)

So we disposed of about 3500. A few we sold, private sales and music magpie (uk company that also buys books) most we gave to charity shops.

We brought what we consider the important ones but i do miss my collection.

 

[Polymath257]

I am planning to move in another year or so. To sell the current house, I'm going to have to put most of my books into storage and probably weed out a number of them.

I have to admit that this idea gives me a lot of anxiety. I don't like to get rid of books. I've done it before and I've always regretted it.

Good luck!

 

[Orbit]

I sold 700 books to a used bookstore when I left Los Angeles. It was sad, but necessary. I left another 300 in Mexico when I moved back to the U.S. Now I have maybe 300. Losing books is hard.

 

[JustGeorge]

I get upset enough when a pet/kid ruins just one... I can't imagine weeding through like that.

I left an excellent one in the rain once. Was reading outside, left it open, really didn't think the weather was actually going to turn like that. Well, we got a fie minute downpour, and the book was thoroughly soaked. I had to go through each page and separate them all while wet, throw it over AC vents, and keep flipping it, but it did dry... its just crinkly now.

We do have a selection of books that was given to my husband from one of his friends who had to move immediately. It was more of a 'from one hoarder to another' situation than anything he'd actually enjoy, but he doesn't want to get rid of them, because they're books. I'd like to be rid of those simply because they're not interesting to either of us, and I feel someone somewhere would love them(just not us). Books are meant to be read.

 

[muichimotsu]

Before we moved to France we had a library of around 4000 books.

I would have loved to bring
them all with us but it just wasn't practical. To create a library in this house would mean selling one of the children ;-)

So we disposed of about 3500. A few we sold, private sales and music magpie (uk company that also buys books) most we gave to charity shops.

We brought what we consider the important ones but i do miss my collection.

A library of that degree tells me you had a dedicated room for it, I barely have 600 or so, though if we took all my manga out of boxes, would need a whole other bookshelf

The trickiest part is always that notion. I find myself looking at a book on Buddhism that I feel like I'll never get to, though the same can be said for the several koan collections and other stuff that's on a shelf that's all "Eastern" religions. Used to be 2 shelves worth, weeded that out well enough. Biggest issue is theology stuff, even just considering stuff I weeded out from Kierkegaard books I used for college courses (just a few), but there's still several from my junior seminar where we focused on theology in religious studies. Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila and I think some others, like Martin Luther (obviously!)

 

[muichimotsu]

I get upset enough when a pet/kid ruins just one... I can't imagine weeding through like that.

I left an excellent one in the rain once. Was reading outside, left it open, really didn't think the weather was actually going to turn like that. Well, we got a fie minute downpour, and the book was thoroughly soaked. I had to go through each page and separate them all while wet, throw it over AC vents, and keep flipping it, but it did dry... its just crinkly now.

We do have a selection of books that was given to my husband from one of his friends who had to move immediately. It was more of a 'from one hoarder to another' situation than anything he'd actually enjoy, but he doesn't want to get rid of them, because they're books. I'd like to be rid of those simply because they're not interesting to either of us, and I feel someone somewhere would love them(just not us). Books are meant to be read.

That's where library sales and such are of great benefit. Heck, we get so much religious/theological stuff, I think our local Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (which I'm not sure is a countrywide thing in America) would like some of it, because we have to take stuff to recycling, no one really is grabbing up that stuff as much as novels or such