Managing My Book Collection the Painless Way

I have a confession to make: I used to be a book hoarder. I found it painful to take books out of my house, even those I had read and didn't like; even those I knew I'd never read, ever; even those yellowed, falling-apart paperbacks from my undergrad days. Even, dare I admit, old textbooks!

Did you notice I said used to be a book hoarder? That's right. I'm a recovering bookaholic. In the last week I cut my book collection down by at least half. No more double-deep bookshelves. No more books on the floor or on the stairs. And, in fact, I even have one completely empty bookshelf!

Was it painful? Only a tiny bit. Was it easy? Actually it wasn't all that hard. Did I discover a life-changing trick? Why, yes I did. And I'm happy to share my process and discoveries with you.

Here is my guide to reformation and a tidy, uncluttered house.

First Steps

My initial approach to thinning my book collection was to follow some of my own advice from five years ago, which I provided in a post on culling books and another post on fine-tuning the process. In particular:

• I gave away almost all ARCs older than 2 years
• I gave away most of my books from high school and college, except beloved favorites and books with high sentimental value.
• I gave away most of the books I've already read but didn't love enough to read again.

At the same time, I didn't bother with all the extra steps I used to take.

• I haven't updated Library Thing or Libib or in years, and I don't really plan to look at either of those databases again.
• I didn't look at my Calibre app or my Dropbox folders. Ebooks are for another day.

Key Mindset

I had to keep reminding myself that I was ridding my house of a replaceable commodity. As much as I love books and love having a book-filled house (on the shelves, please), it was important to remember that books are not a one-time deal.

Books are available at my local independent bookstore or at my local library.

Once I fully took that simple and obvious statement to heart, it was pretty easy to say good-bye to a lot of books, especially books I hadn't read since college.

Biggest Worry / Ultimate Goal

One of my biggest stumbling blocks was being afraid that I'd forget about books I wanted to read. As I was culling, I'd find myself saying (more than once), "Oh, yes, that book, I bet I'd love it. If I get rid of it, I'll never remember to read it."

That started me down the path of old habits, thinking I had to scan those books into Library Thing or start a spread sheet or create a list or table document. All were processes that were going to take time or brain power and that had to be maintained. I knew I was setting myself up for failure--yet again.

I needed something better, easier, quicker, and more useful.

Key Discovery

Meanwhile, before packing up some of my ARCs and disintegrating, ancient paperbacks, I checked my library to see about availability in case I wanted to read (or reread) those titles. While I was on Overdrive I made a life-changing discovery.

Did you know Overdrive has a wish list? Do you know what that wish list is for?

Overdrive's wish list is for keeping track of the books you want to read. You simply search for a title or author. If your library has a copy of the book, you click on the book cover and then click on the "Add to my wish list" button. That's all there is to it.

When you view your wish list, you see the covers of the books you want to read, which ones are available to borrow right away, and which ones have a wait list (along with an estimated time you'll have to wait).

If you need to know more about a book, click on the cover, and you'll find the description. If the book is part of series, you'll also find a list of the other titles in the series.

Overdrive's wish list will hold 5000 titles.

The best part was there was no scanning bar codes, no adding tags to books, no typing in descriptions. And, of course, Overdrive understands readers don't want limits, we can keep a wish list of thousands of titles.

Putting It All Together

The vast majority of the books I culled went into bags and boxes without a second thought. As I said, however, some books evoked an in-between response: I wanted to make sure I didn't forget about them, but I wasn't sure I wanted them to take up bookshelf space. I set those books aside.

When I needed a break taking books out of the bookcases, dusting, sorting, bagging, and reshelving, I turned to that stack of books I put in limbo. I looked up the titles on Overdrive; if my library had a copy, I put it on my wish list and let it go. If my library did not have a copy, I made a final decision and put the book on a shelf or in a giveaway box.

Now my bookshelves are filled with books I loved and must keep forever, books I truly want to read, and new(ish) review copies I have every intention of reading, reviewing, or featuring on my blog or Instagram. My Overdrive wish list (easy to access via computer, tablet, or phone) is holding books I don't want to forget about.

I reached peace with my book collection.

I'll leave you with an interesting fact: You'll never guess how many books ended up on my wish list at the library. I was a bit shocked to see that despite giving away hundreds of books, only 64 (yes, you read that right) books are on my Overdrive wish list. I tried hard to be realistic about what I'll read as I slow down my work life, and I think I did a great job.

Hope I helped you come to terms with your own overflowing book shelves. Let me know!