In the name of renewal (and family peace), my husband and I repurposed our rec room into a master bedroom and let our girls, ages 12 and 6, have their own rooms.
In the process, we had to redistribute everyone's books. We shuffled them from room to room and set them on newly installed shelves, but we still had a lot left over.
I was forced to admit it: I had too many books.
"Of all the stuff I try to get rid of as an organizer, books are the most difficult," says Leslie Josel, owner of the home-organizing service Order Out of Chaos, in Larchmont, N.Y. They are not usually worth much money, and they are heavy.
My problem was, I still kind of wanted them myself. The first big hurdle of book purging: emotional attachment.
My kids had classics inscribed to them by their grandparents. I had important, canonical works. The problem was, some of them were never liked, or even read. Years of accumulation had resulted in unwieldy towers and double-loaded shelves full of novels, parenting books and travel guides, some from trips never taken or classes 30 years past.
People are also reading…
"The clutter in our houses becomes like another person living there - the most dysfunctional one," says Josel.
OK, dysfunctional family member, time to stop taking up space.
I started with the children's books. Those below the youngest child's reading level could, except for a few sentimental favorites, be weeded out. Books that my older kids had enjoyed could be saved at the top of a closet for the youngest.
That was a warmup exercise. On to the adult section.
Books in foreign languages last studied in high school: out. Gifts that only revealed the bizarre taste of the giver: out. Books that were Important Prize Winners but too daunting to read: out. Mostly. Aww, look where I wrote Rolling Stones lyrics in my high school poetry anthology. Save.
See, that's what happens. I had to stay strong.
"Organization of books brings clarity into a person's life," says Nicola Walter, president of Nicola Walter Design & Decor, Inc. in New York City.
She suggests arranging volumes by topic, and stacking those of current interest on a coffee table or nightstand. Then, "make a visual composition of the bookshelf." That means stacking books both vertically and horizontally, and giving them some air in between where you can place pretty bookends, photographs, sculptures or vases.
"These objects act as a reminder of which books are where, and which books I use more frequently," she says.
Once you've reordered your newly spacious shelves, you meet the second big hurdle of book purging: the sheer physical challenge of what to do with the castoffs.
One key is using boxes small enough that you can carry them when they're full of books. Collect them in one pile placed so inconveniently that you're forced to do something about it.
Find A new home for unwanted books
Donating your unwanted books that are in good condition can help the whole community.
Books are collected and sold by the Friends of the Pima County Public Library. Last fiscal year, 2009-2010, the Friends donated $230,000 to the Public Library.
Books, CDs, audio books, and DVDs are all accepted. Magazines, Reader's Digest condensed books, law books and theses are not accepted.
Donations may be taken to the Book Barn, 2230 N. Country Club Road, Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to noon and Thursday evenings 6-9 p.m. You can also take your book donations to your local library branch or bring them to Friends sales, which are listed in the Book events list in Sunday's ¡Vamos! section.
Help with large donations is available by calling 795-3763.
Donations are tax deductible.
SOURCE: Friends of the Pima County Public Library website, www.ftppl.org
Other options:
• To send books to U.S. troops, contact Operation Paperback (www.operationpaperback.org) and Books for Soldiers (www.booksforsoldiers.com).
• Of course, you can take your books to local used-book stores. If you want to try selling your books online, BookScouter.com lets you compare prices at various book-buying websites. TextbookRecycling.com can help you buy and sell used textbooks.
• Play! At Bookcrossing.com, download a label for your book and leave it in a public spot. When someone picks it up, they can log on to say so. That way, it's not really saying goodbye.