Downsizing a Library

I have 1539 books.

I am moving to a smaller house and unfortunately some of the books will not make that trip with me.
I shall keep my collectable books and those that I have a stong emotional attachement to.
Choosing the book that will not make the trip has been very difficult.

It would be easier if I knew they were going to find a good home.

Any advice would be appreciated! _/\_

>1 SanjivSharma: Advice on what? You seem to already have decided which books to keep. Do you want thoughts on that, or advice on how to dispose of the books you are getting rid of?

We talk about downsizing strategies and give each other pep talks here:

https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/17819/Discarded

If I were to offer a word on getting rid of books, I would suggest that you ask friends and relatives which books they would like to have. I believe this is the best way to ensure that they go to someone who will truly appreciate them. If you just wish to get rid of them you can take them to a reputable used book store for cash or credit.

If you create a discarded collection and move the books into it you can have a record of what you had.

>5 MarthaJeanne: That's such a great idea. This topic interests me as sucessive downsizings have given me this same problem.

Sadly none of my relatives share my taste in books so the local Oxfam bookshop gets quite a lot of mine. i had not thought of making a collection of discards but your idea inspires me to do it.

I am going to put some of my books in the (I think they call them this), The Little Library in where people put books in their neighborhood. Also my local library puts books in the lobby where people can take them and leave a donation so I will put some back in those racks. I buy a lot of books from Goodwill and my local thrift store. I think you may be able to do something about your taxes because of a dontion. NOT SURE how that is done.

Good luck on paring down! Getting rid of books is never easy, but sometimes, for whatever the reason, necessary.

I recently purged about a hundred books from my personal library, and will be taking them to a local thrift store. A lot of them were holdovers from my history degree. Others were biographies and various fiction that I either read once, or intended to read in the future. This is the second time in the last decade or so that I've scaled down on my library

Something that helped me during the process was to keep my account page for my local library open, and I put a lot of the titles into my list for future books to check out. Now instead of sitting on my shelves, they're sitting in genre-specific folders on my library website.

For me, having physical copies of books is a lovely and inherent thing. At the same time, I think I got into a season of life where I was scooping them up so arbitrarily that I lost sight of what I was even getting them for. So I kept the ones I love-love, the ones from loved ones and special places in my life, and the niche, smaller collections of subjects that fascinate me.

The end result has been a feeling of being able to breathe easier, and the intention of using my public library more often than the bookstore.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your move!

>2 anglemark: advice on where to donate the books that I am not keeping so that they provide the most utility.

>9 SanjivSharma: That will depend on where you are in the world and what kind of books you are planning to donate.

>3 2wonderY: Thanks! will check it out.

>4 Blythewood: Thanks. Yes, I have asked friend and family. Good used bookistores in FL are hard to find!

>5 MarthaJeanne: Good Idea - Thanks

>7 mnleona: Thank you

>8 christina.h: Thank you, It is difficult!

>10 AnnieMod: Florida. Hardcover Fiction, Encylopedias, Art, Spirituality, etc all in great condition.

This might help if you're in the Jacksonville area:
https://www.chamblinbookmine.com/faq.php (They also suggest where to donate books they don't take)

>7 mnleona: I also put books in the Little Free Libraries near me, there are at least 4 in walking distance. I'm also lucky to have a large used book store near me and a paper-backs only used book store in the beach town I visit most summers, so I always save a few for there.

>4 Blythewood: I'd like to visit a disreputable used book store.