Convince me to get rid of these books

[4Marmalade]

I am always on a decluttering mission and I do fairly well but I can never seem to part with books. I very rarely read a book twice. We get most of our books to read from the library. These are mostly books we received as gifts. I think I just like the look of them on the shelf . I sometimes have family or friends borrow a book but that's no reason to just keep them sitting here gathering dust. I should donate them or sell them to a used book store right? At least someone else would enjoy them. I'm not sure why I'm so attached to them.

[LZP]

I have a lot of trouble getting rid of books too, so I feel your pain. I get it from my mom (who still has a death grip on a set of 1965 Encyclopaedia Britannica- ugh).

I recently packed a LOT of books up and donated them to the local library for it's annual book sale.

If they are for adult readers, Purple Heart will take them. If they are for young readers, maybe a local day care that's subsidized for lower income familes could benefit from them? (They often only have funding to pay staff and not much else.) Or, donate to the kids room at a local house of worship?

Think of how nice it will be to have even one totally clear shelf... you could put just a few things on it! easier to dust, easy on the eyes!

the feeling of letting something go stings at first, but opening a closet or looking at a stack of shelves that actually have some SPACE in them is soooo rewarding!

[Teensy]

I used to keep every book I acquired, but then a few years ago I started getting rid of most books once I had read them. I do keep books I know I will want to read again soon, but other than those (and non-fiction resource type books) I let them go.

It is wasteful for me to have a stack of books collecting dust when they could instead be in someone's hands being read. Most of the books I buy are paperbooks, so they aren't particularly lovely to look at. And it started feeling selfish of me to hold onto books when I could pass them along to be enjoyed over and over again by other people.

On the rare occasion I want to re-read a book I have given away, I can either check it out from the library or simply re-buy it.

I have yet to regret passing along a book.

[laurabfig]

Remember you can always get it at the library if you want to read it again.

Although I'm the wrong person to ask- my husband has so many books that I WISH he would get rid of some, but he too has an emotional attachment to them.

I think if they are organized and pretty on the shelves and make your home a "homey" place- do you really need to get rid of them?

[Punchy Kaby]

Last year I convinced DH (the book lover) to go through the books and get rid of the ones that are out of date, or will never read again. WE cleared out hundreds of books. He intended on selling them, but after they sat in our office for 8 months I got rid of them all (donated.) We never regretted doing it!

[Jane]

I've got a thread on here somewhere about decluttering. I decided I didn't need the books to prove I'd read them. I went through and threw out (recycled) the ones that were out of date (1995 presidential election civics book?) or damaged beyond hope. I checked half.com for books that I thought might be worth something to sell. Anything with no sales in the past few years I gave away. Anything less than $2 I gave away (my threshold for hassel). Ended up listing about 40 books that were worth something. I think I've made about $300 on 20 book sales (out of print texts for genetics or midwifery mostly, + one paperback).
If I ever want one of those books back, I can get it at the library or buy it on half.com for pennies. My house smells sooooo much better without dusty books. And I haven't missed a one!

[Dingletwitz]

Books--so hard. For me, having a show of books was some kind of proof that I was a smarty, or showing that I valued reading, or pride that I read everything of some author or another. Once I realized that, I could let go. Not only did I rid myself of 5 bookshelves worth of books, I no longer had a bookshelf problem. Now, in the rare circumstance I buy a book (usually for some professional need), it either goes right back to the library as a donation or hangs out in my office for a while. If I don't touch it in several months, straight to the library. All this library business has kept me a bit more thoughtful and far less impulsive about buying books. If someone buys dd a book, we read it and if she really digs it it stays a while, but most times it's treated like a library book. Donation time.

[Gypsymama22girls]

you could always list them on paperbackswap.com then you could "sell" them for new books...i know that doesn't really help to declutter but it may get rid of those books.

[daytripper75]

Set aside an area in your house for books. As many shelves of books as you want. Books on a shelf are homey, they are a physical display of a set of values. Everything that doesn't fit in your book space should go!
It's not a bad thing to need or want books in the home! Just make sure you have the right amount.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by daytripper75

Set aside an area in your house for books. As many shelves of books as you want. Books on a shelf are homey, they are a physical display of a set of values. Everything that doesn't fit in your book space should go!
It's not a bad thing to need or want books in the home! Just make sure you have the right amount.

[limette]

For you, I recommend getting rid of them.

For me, I would never get rid of them, but I read my books over and over again.

[Shahbazin]

What's that rule about clothes? (Or was it kitchen stuff?) That you should wear them/use them at least once a year, or out they go? Anyhow, that's a good way to sort books. I re-read stuff constantly, use a lot of obscure/specialized references, & have a lot of "old friends", but I used to have a (tiny) house crammed with books, & now where we live I only have 3 seven foot high bookshelves with a combined width of about 8 feet (plus a single 2 foot wide shelf on a bookcase elsewhere) that contain all of my personal books (kids, DH & FIL have their own shelves - lots smaller than mine!); & that's enough.

[sapientia]

Oh this is a hard one for me-I love to have books around me, love to read. This last move we moved to a much smaller house and I got rid of (sold or donated) over 300 books-and it is so much nicer! When I initially made the purge I thought it would be like ripping out a part of my soul (I think it's a bit of showing what I've read and having immediate access to something I may want to re-read again) but it really wasn't. I don't miss the books and the space is much nicer. Granted, I still have a lot of books-but they are much more manageable.

[clutterwarrior]

Aside from kids books which are a whole other ballgame, the only books I keep are either vintage ones that look lovely on a shelf, or art books and craft books...rather addicted to the latter. I don't keep much fiction at all.

I don't think I could get rid of a lot of them merely because I have not looked at them once or twice each year...as it is more of a reference library that I may want to refer to. However I definitely can cut down the amount I have....another project for once I have sorted all my craft supplies!

4Marmalade sorry I don't think I have been much help...but yes it sounds like you want to get rid of them, you may feel much lighter without them gathering dust. Good luck!

[PenelopeJune]

I love books and don't consider them clutter. Good books, anyway. I only buy favorites and classics. I almost never buy a book that I haven't read first. I don't buy generic fiction, because I can get it at the library, and if they don't have it, through interlibrary loan. I collect young adult fiction (Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, Harry Potter, Wind in the Willows, Tom Sawyer, etc) and gardening/nature books.

Anything that I've read and don't plan to read again goes away. I just donate to our library, and if they don't want it they put it on a table for someone to take for free.

[kangaroo_mom]

I struggle with this. I'm one of those that has a hard time reselling my text books. lol I had to move 4 times in a year and recently downsized yet again and got rid of several books. I need to go through and purge some of my kids' books. I too love the feeling of being surrounded by books. But I have found it is better to only keep the ones I truly love, a few good reference ones and a few to raise visitor's eyebrows.