Down Mulberry Lane

Declutter Journey: Books

As a person who loves books, I have many.  I didn't need many excuses to get more, either.  Once we got kids... I got more books.  Once we started homeschooling... I got MORE books!  Dh thinks I might have as many books in our house as the local library in our small town.  I'm thinking he is exaggerating just a wee bit, but I do have alot of books. 

I am going through the bookshelves and trying to give up some of these books.  I have started to put my books in order of age... so the kids books are in accordance to reading level.  I have a general reading section, which is compiled of readers that we use as the kids grow in their reading skills.  I have weeded out the readers that were not beneficial in my opinion.  I have ALOT of them, so I saved the best, the character building ones, the ones that are uplifting and the ones that teach of God and the Bible.  The rest, the silly ones, are in a pile to leave the house.    I have a Bible training bookshelf.  Three shelves of books that have Bible teaching resources for the family for different age levels.  I have one set of bookshelves organized for Mom... all books that are resources for me on homeschooling, housekeeping, quilting, crafts, etc.  This is my dream shelf and my study shelf.  It brings smiles to myself, BUT, I limited myself to one bookshelf!!!  Dh thinks that is still too much, but isn't arguing, since this was a compromise!   Another bookshelf has books that have never been read.  This is my to do, bookshelf.  One shelf also contains Themed books... like all the Christmas story books and the Advent books.  This shares a shelf with assorted Bibles in various versions.  We rarely use it, but the Bibles are in poor condition and I don't want to burn them, yet they aren't in any type of giving condition... so I have hung on to them, unsure really what to do with them. 

I have one large bookshelf that I have emptied and now have filled with books to get rid of.  Some posted on half.com.  Some are posted on homeschool classifieds.  And some are posted on paperback swap.  I have gotten rid of 15 books on paperback swap in the last month.  I am thinking hurray!  But I worry that my shelves will again fill up since I need to swap!  I am considering using this as a way to get gifts for family for Christmas.  This is a bit difficult though because the condition can vary from new to good and it is a guess as to how I will come out.  I have had great luck so far... every book so far in like new to great condition.   I am hoping that my luck continues.  I am trying to figure out my family's likes and dislikes on books and audio tapes.  My fil doesn't read well, from his diabetes, so I am looking for some audio books for him.  My mother loves craft books of any kind, yet she is a book lover herself and finding one she hasn't read or seen is a bit tricky!  My kids... Hmmmm... we already have so many books to choose from, to find one they haven't read that I approve of... is proving more difficult than I once thought!  LOL  Plus any books for them, adds to my shelves at home... I am thinking eventually it will be a blessing.  I have even considered finding some religious books to donate to our church library... a good deal both ways... a blessing to the church and a blessing that my house is cleaner/less packed. 

Downstairs my bookshelves have gotten lighter.  My youngest has been limited to one shelf on the bookshelf.  I found that alot of picture books can fit on one shelf!  And when pulled out they make quite the mess!  Luckily most everyone is patient and loving with teaching her to pick up.  My bedroom bookshelf is becoming lighter.  I am filling it with books I haven't read to keep me reading.  Many of these are self help, study or religious in nature, so I am going through them in my morning devotional time.  I read my Bible and try to read a chapter or two out of these books.  I have enjoyed this renewed quiet time in the morning.  The added bonus of knowing that when I have finished the books, they will likely leave the house... is helpful for my encouragement to keep up with my studies... odd I know, but for me it is helpful at this time.  I do keep the best of the best, so that my older daughters can read if they desire to.  I like to have a shelf with some good reads at a higher reading level. 

I've also begun the curriculum clean up as well.  This week I removed two boxes of books and gave it away on freecycle.  I was unable to sell them on ebay or half.com or even swap them on paperback swap... so out the door they went.  The gal was pleased to have some more books, she will share the extras with the homeschool coop. 

I have some working spots of books I am working on.  I have a laundry basket full of curriculum books of various kinds that I found at a second hand store for 25 cents each.  Writing strands and beautiful feet study's, lots of good finds and a few homeschool help books.  I haven't had time to digest these as of yet.  I don't want to add them to the shelves if I decide not to keep them.  So they are in a basket until I can get to them.  I also have a pile of garden books that I want to put into the shelf upstairs that is holding books I haven't read, yet.  It's getting closer.  I think I could grab a stack of 5-10 and transfer it to my to-do list shelf and make room for a few anyways.  And lastly I have a basket of books that I am pretty sure I want to get rid of, but they have no ISBN numbers so posting them online has been difficult, yet they are good books.  I need a bit of time to either post in lots on ebay or something... that is another to-do pile of books that will go in time. 

The main point in listing all about the books is not to bore you.  It is a point in organization, having a plan, making limits and having a plan that will dig you out of perhaps a disorganized pile of books.  In making different areas for different books, I can limit myself on say... ministry books... (I have one bookshelf that I keep all my SS teachers books, my health ministry books, and my youth ministry books on.  I use these in seasons, so this bookshelf is in an odd place atop of our stairway that is hard to get into, yet looks neat and fills a hole that has otherwise been filled with dirty clothes from the kids... no longer... it has books there!  It's kind of a dead end 3 foot hole by 2.5 feet wide.  )  These limitations give me some sense of goal to work towards.  The organization aspect of organizing my books into topics/needs/age levels, helps me to see exactly how many self help books I have, helps me see how many Bible study books I have, helps me see how many books I have not read yet (keeping me from buying more until that pile gets smaller!), etc.  Once in one section I have been able to really make some hard decisions on ...do I really NEED that book?  Will I really read it again?  Can someone else use the book more than my family?  Do I have too many books that we can't possibly use them all?   All questions I have had to ask myself... and I am becoming more honest with myself as I tarry on this journey.   

Organization is the key.  I find that once I go through my books, I will likely have two bookshelves that will be empty... nice wooden bookshelves.  I have wondered what will I do with the shelves when there are no books to put on them?  No worries, I have plenty of craft projects, plenty of items I want to sell on ebay that can sit on one shelf.  I think I will move all the audio books to one of the shelves.  Dh loves to take those in the car when he is on his long road trips.  Having them organized on a shelf rather than packed into a rubbermaid container would be more accessible for him.   If I could not find anything at all to put on the shelves, I would highly consider giving the shelves away.  after all I am trying to reduce the clutter in our home. 

I realize that giving away the books would be an easy way out of the clutter, but I feel strongly that if I can sell the items that this is the best way to show good stewardship.  God says in the Bible to sell what we have and give to the poor.  So that is what I am trying to do.  I am giving it 2-4 months to sell in various online venues, but if it doesn't sell by month four, then I put it into a box for giving away on freecycle... at least that is the goal as much as I can keep track of.    it took me a long time to accumulate all this stuff around me.  I'm sure if I am diligent in trying to sell it, it will take me quite a bit of time to get it gone as well.   Right now our sales are going towards our debt.  Once our debt is gone, then giving to the poor would come easier.   Our stuff is not just treasure in our homes, but it is currently visible bondage to our debts.  This does not bring glory to God.  We want to reduce our debt as much as possible.  We still are giving in other ways, with budgeting from dh's salary, but reducing our debt by reducing our stuff is of highest priority for me.  Once out of debt, then our stuff will be more like treasure and selling it to increase our gifts to God only makes sense at that point. 

Enough rambling.   Happy organizing with your own Books!

Warmly, ~Melissa

Untitled Comment

7:49 AM, April 12, 2008 .. Posted by morningsunshine

your font is so small, my screen doesn't have enough pixels to properly form the letters! of course I am wondering if my eyes are going, but still your font is the only one I have trouble reading here.