Booking Through Thursday: Weeding Books: 10/15/09

We're moving in a couple weeks (the first time since I was 9 years old), and I've been going through my library of 3000+ books, choosing the books that I could bear to part with and NOT have to pack to move. Which made me wonder...

When's the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)

And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) ...what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?

In my adult life I've gone through six moves. Books are always the biggest part of the move and they have gotten to be more of a chore to move with each move. Since 2003 I have been actively weeding our collection but there are a few complicating factors.

My husband just earned his PhD in applied mathematics. With applied math comes a need for a lot of math and computer science books. They are big, expensive and heavy. Right now he's moved them into his office at the university but if we move, they will have to be moved twice: once to home and once to where ever we move.

We now have two children. My oldest can now read but he has been a book fanatic since he was about two. His collection stands at about three hundred books. Now many of those books are picture books that he is now too old for but his sister is four years younger. So she is inheriting most of his books but is of course adding to the collection based on her personal tastes.

Finally there are the books I receive from publicists and authors to review on my blog. I don't keep them after I'm done reading and reviewing them but they do arrive quicker than I can read them. I have a shelf of these books to read at any given time.

How I Weed

I "weed" my books by releasing them through BookCrossing. BookCrossing is a book tracking site, much like Where's George. Most of my weeded books go with me to the local monthly meeting. If no one wants any of my books, I usually then take them to my local coffee shop because it has a bookshelf where locals drop off their unwanted books to swap.

The last ten books I've released (or "weeded") are:

1. North From Calcutta by Duane Evans; a review copy which I will be reviewing soon.
2. Synarchy Book 1: The Awakening by DCS; a review copy which I will be reviewing soon.
3. The Talking Baby by Jeremy Sweet; a review copy which I will be reviewing soon.
4. Shooting an Albatross by Steven R. Lundin; a review copy which I will be reviewing soon.
5. The Mammy by Brendan O'Carroll; a bookcrossing book that I will be reviewing soon.
6. The Wheels on the Bus by Raffi; a book that neither of my children were still interested in.
7. On the Bluffs by Steven Schindler; a review copy which I will be reviewing soon.
8. Read Me One by Gaby Morgan; a bookcrossing book that I will be reviewing soon.
9. Perseverance by Carolyn Rubenstein; a review copy which I will be reviewing soon.
10. The Sky Rained Heroes by Frederick LaCroix; a review copy which I will be reviewing soon.

booking through thursday

Comments (12)

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Comment #1: Thursday, October, 15, 2009 at 17:58:19

JLS Hall

I joined up with BookCrossing some months back, but I haven't "released" any books yet. I know it would be a great way to get rid of some of the books I've got stored away. But I seem to have gotten the hoarding gene - just can't force myself to part with those darn books!

Comment #2: Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 18:42:42

Pussreboots

I've released 2560 books since I joined in 2003. There are ways to get your book to interested readers if you don't feel comfortable just wild releasing them. There are book rings, book rays, relays (see BookObssessed) and local meetings where you can hand your book to fellow members. Many BookCrossers are also members of Book Mooch and Paperback Swap. I'm not a member of either of those sites so I can't tell you if there are special rules for using BookCrossing labeled books.

Comment #3: Thursday, October, 15, 2009 at 18:12:05

lilly

I really have to check BookCrossing. I have heard of it but not a lot and it seems such a good idea.

Comment #4: Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 18:48:00

Pussreboots

Check out the BookCrossing FAQ and the forums for ideas on how to use the site and how to get your books to readers.

Comment #5: Thursday, October, 15, 2009 at 18:57:11

Jennifer

I just finished weeding my library from over 2,000 down to about 1400. I generally get rid of books I think I'm unlikely to read again. I generally divide stuff between Half Price Books, Bookmooch.com, and adding to my library sale.

Now how I weed my "real" library is a whole 'nother thing...

Comment #6: Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 18:53: 22

Pussreboots

What's your "real" library? So far I've released 156 books but, sigh, I've taken in 197 books. They aren't all ARCs so I have to take some of the blame myself.

Comment #7: Thursday, October, 15, 2009 at 19:49:44

Vasilly

You know I never thought about the moving part of this question. I've moved often as an adult and the first thing I do is start packing my books.

I'm too scared to do BookCrossing. What if someone throws a book away?

Great answer.

Comment #8: Thursday, October 15, 2009

Pussreboots

What happens when you're gone? Your relatives might not love books as much as you do. They might throw away your books too. Try releasing a book you didn't especially like. Take a look at the links in the previous comments I've provided to give ideas on how to use BookCrossing without even making a single wild release.

Comment #9: Thursday, October, 15, 2009 at 20:20:18

Stephanie

I agree — books are the worst part about moving. I just moved recently and I still shudder at the memory of moving all my books.

Comment #10: Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 19:10:32

Pussreboots

If we move again I will probably purge all of my collection because we'll still have my kids' and my husband's books to worry about.

Comment #11: Thursday, October, 15, 2009 at 20:42:34

Jeane

I have heard of Book Crossing; it certainly is a painless way to let them go! Have you ever looked up the books you released and found out where they ended up?

My husb doesn't have many books, (his mostly on statistics) but my daughter has inherited all of mine and is adding her own now- I think she has almost two hundred. It's kind of scary!

Comment #12: Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 19:15:45

Pussreboots

I don't need to look up the books to see what they are doing. BookCrossing sends me an email every night at midnight with the daily journal entries from different books I've released.