I was looking at Longreads when I came across this post titled: “Reading Doesn’t Have to Mean Keeping Your Books Forever“. As someone with issues getting rid of books, this title intrigued me. The article, however, was more of an introduction to Freya Howarth’s long-form article: “How to Nurture a Personal Article“. The first part, on the uses of the personal library, caught my eye. According to Howarth,
“A personal library can serve as:
Freya Howarth, How to Nurture a Personal Library
- a store for memories, including personal memories – a way to rediscover and revisit ideas and feelings, and also help you enjoy the pleasures of rereading;
- a tool for research, which lets you encounter new ideas; and
- a source of various pleasures: entertainment, escapism, solace, beauty, inspiration, and surprise.”
All this, naturally, involves curating your personal library (or collection of books, if you’re unwilling to accept the fact that one owns enough books to have a library).
The way I see it, there are two ways you could curate a personal library:
- By being selective of the books you buy
- By regularly weeding out books from your library
Frankly, I am terrible at both. Sure, I am selective about the books I pay full price for, but when it comes to secondhand and remaindered books, the low price means I’m willing to take a chance on the book if it sounds interesting.
Getting rid of books? That’s a bit hard when almost every book sparks joy. I went for a Book & Tea exchange recently and was so proud of myself for being able to find five books to exchange – and one of those five books was an adult colouring book! Being able to find another five books for the next exchange might be a bit hard, unless I start being a bit more ruthless with what I keep.
All this leads to a fairly chaotic personal library. Sure, there are broad themes – fairytales, Discworld books, cookbooks, but it’s not cohesive. I suppose my personal library is more for memories than it is a tool for research.
All this has left me wondering, how curated is your personal library/book collection? Do you go through your books and ruthlessly cull those which are not sparking joy? Are you very selective about what makes it on your shelves? Or are you like me, where everything has a place, even if I have to double stack the books?
Honestly, what is the point of building up a personal library if we keep getting rid of books? A library should have books in it. Lots and lots of books. When in doubt, keep it, is my motto.
I love that motto! I find it very hard to get rid of books too!
I’ve had to winnow down my personal library out of necessity (lack of space, having to move them, etc) so now I don’t really want to get rid of any more because I must have donated at least three-quarters already! Oddly, what’s left probably would give people a skewed perception of me because I primarily kept books I know I wouldn’t find easily at the library–academic works and classics. I read pretty broadly, but I’m sure visitors would think I’m some stuffy person who believes only Shakespeare wrote real art. XD
I’ve started being more selective about what I buy and keep, too, because I just don’t have the room. So sometimes I buy a book and, if I don’t see myself rereading it, I donate it immediately, so I have less time to start feeling attached.
It makes sense to keep what you can’t easily get! When I buy books online, I tend to buy those I can’t borrow too (or if I read and really liked them).
“Curated” is an interesting word which I definitely have not really thought about in terms of my books lol. I do have a habit of moving often, so I’ve actually given away a lot of books and gotten rid of ones I really hated, but I still do have several bookcases’ worth. So I guess they’re mostly books I actually like or have some value for though???
I’ve moved countries twice in my life and both times, I couldn’t get rid of books! I think I gave away a total of 1 book so I ended up coming back with a lot more books than I went away with!
Clearly I do not curate my book collection hahaha
I culled about 60 books from my collection to be recycled or sold about three years ago. I haven’t moved them yet!
Perhaps this is a sign to move them back into your collection! 60 sounds like a huge number to me, I definitely would not be able to do it!
When it comes to buying a physical copy of a book, I am very selective, in part because I don’t have any money to spare. My primary reading format is audiobook, so I typically only buy physically copies of my all time most favorite books that I’ve already listened to (either on an audiobook I’ve purchased or an audiobook from one of the seven libraries I’m a member of). The only other physical copies of books I own are ARCs that I’ve received from publishers and gifts from friends and family. However, this system makes it quite dificult to get rid of books until years have passed, lol!
If you’re only buying books you really love, I think you wouldn’t need to get rid of anything! I would love to be more selective but honestly, I’m only selective for books that I pay full price for – for discounted books, I like to just take a gamble.
Same here. I try to be very selective with the physical books I buy. Getting rid of any of them is quite hard. Like you say, they’re physical memories. And sometimes I very much like to reread some of them. Though it can be necessary when I’m running out of room to put my new books in.
I’ve started double stacking books to make room, which I think makes it even harder to find books sometime! Perhaps one day, I should have an excel or something of my entire collection so I can see what I have at a glance.
Rereading is so fun, I like having books on hand for that!
This is an interesting discussion! Personally, I do a bit of both the ways mentioned, and I’ve gotten rid of a lot of books over the past year. I’m trying just to have books that I really enjoy and/or would see myself rereading. I do think that it can be difficult to curate a selection, but I’ve come to realize that I really don’t have a lot of books that I am truly attached to.
Curating books is such a difficult task for me! I think I have the opposite problem – I feel attached to books very easily. Also, I like the idea of owning a lot of books and that probably makes it even more difficult for me to let go.
Do you find your attachment to books is based on the story or is the edition/circumstance you got the book also important to you?
I’m typically more attached to the story, I don’t have many books that are special editions overall. I also tend to buy most of the books I own myself, so the circumstances are fairly mundane!
I determine to get rid of a book after I read it. It how I have more un-read books then read. When buying books I try to be selective but it hard when I find used books for cheap.
Wow, I’m really impressed with your willpower!! I have so much difficulty getting read of books! And I agree, it’s hard to resist buying a book if it’s cheap – that’s how I end up buying a box at a time :p
I definitely don’t do a fantastic job of unhauling, but I do think that I bring in books that I’m likely to love and I do try to “curate” my read shelves a bit to only include books I enjoyed!
I think if you’re bringing in books you’re likely to enjoy, then you’ll have less need to unhaul books! At the end of the day, as long as we enjoy our library then we’re successful in building one (: