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Erin
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| Posted: Oct 28 2006 at 4:02pm | IP Logged
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If you could only have three bookcases for two years what type of books would you consider the must haves?
As I shared here and herewe are moving to onto land  however our little cabin will only be able to fit three bookcases.  It will likely be two years before we can extend and get the rest of books out of storage.
Three bookcases equals 18 shelves. I have told the dc to chose their favourite ones that they will re-read they are allowed one shelf each. That leaves two bookcases.As our library is extremely pathetic  I can't rely on it. So what books do you suggest? I'm debating picture books? Living History? or Science? Religion? Another thought I had was label the boxes of books packed away well and when we read our way through a bookcase pack away those books and replace with a new lot.
We rely totally on our book collection as our homeschooling is best described as literature based. No textbooks except for maths so we DO use the books. Combine that with an age range of 13yrs to baby and you can see my trouble.  Dd13 is just now starting to branch into some of the older books on our shelves which makes it trickier again. It is like I have to plan years ahead what we will be covering, when normally we only decide a couple of weeks ahead, if that.
Thank you all in advance for your ideas you are always so helpful
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
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Marybeth
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| Posted: Oct 28 2006 at 5:22pm | IP Logged
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Erin,
I think the idea you have for books being packed and replacing is a good idea. Could you place a shelf of books beside each bed for cherished favorites? What about baskets of books or books under beds in a plastic bin?
Also, Jim Trelease had a great idea about cutting gutters and mounting them on the wall for books to be displayed facing outward. I always wanted to do that in my ds's room for more space for him. It looks good b/c the books make it look attractive. I will try and find his website for you since I believe there are pictures.
Do you have ways to get books on tape? I have a cd player underneath my kitchen cabinet and a cd holder with ds's music and books on cd for him in a cabinet in the kitchen.
Just my humble 2 cents. I am very very excited for you and your family....what a great childhood for you dc.
God bless,
Marybeth
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chicken lady
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| Posted: Oct 28 2006 at 6:16pm | IP Logged
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Erin I don't have an answer, except I just did that for 2 yrs. One thing I can tell you is that the time flew by, and secondly I missed my books sooooooo much. We are still unpacking books (we moved in May) and it is like Christmas over here. One advantage I had is that we have a tremendous library system. I would consider alternatives to bookshelves, as MaryBeth stated, 2 yrs w/out books is hard. I too don't use textbooks at all and I found myself needing to get very creative. Books on tape, downloading books, and begging dh to go retrieve books in storage for me 
Good luck, I look forward to others answers as you posed a great question that really lends the mind to discern what we need as opposed to what we want.
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JennGM
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| Posted: Oct 28 2006 at 6:23pm | IP Logged
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Erin, If you aren't using textbooks, I don't know how you could part with the books. I was wondering if you need to think of creative ways of stashing the books. Instead of end tables, use two boxes of books and cover them with a cloth or something. Get some flat boxes or pull out drawers for some of the books and put them under the beds. Have the kids each give up some clothes or one bottom drawer and fill it with their favorite books. I know I'm being crazy, but I know how when I've boxed up my books I've always chosen the wrong ones to keep out, and inevitably want the ones in the boxes...and I wasn't even teaching at the time!
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Maddie
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| Posted: Oct 28 2006 at 7:17pm | IP Logged
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(gulp!)Erin is going to do what with her books?
It must be desperate! Can you build bookshelves around the ceiling in the hall? The bedrooms? Although, if storage is rather close, maybe you can rent a large enough storage room, climate controlled of course, put a battery operated light in there, set up your bookshelves in there, add a chair or two and you can "visit" your books with more freedom then having to deal with boxes everytime. In other words, set up a library in the storage room.
Just an idea, you have my heartfelt sympathy. 
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Mary G
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| Posted: Oct 28 2006 at 8:09pm | IP Logged
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Erin,
I don't have any answer for you ... this is one sore subject around here. Dh grew up with minimal books; I grew up in a household of "eat PBJ we're buying books"  !
Maybe you could use plastic crates in the rooms, lining the walls -- we have some of these on their side in the kids' rooms with their favs; some of the bins are set on their bottoms, filled with "unit study" books.....so maybe you could get creative with book storage?
I'll have you in my prayers -- this would be so hard for me (and was a secret blessing that we didn't go to Austria as I just COULD NOT reduce the books we "HAD" to bring )
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mellyrose
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| Posted: Oct 28 2006 at 10:21pm | IP Logged
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I'm not sure what to advise for paring down books :) BUT, we did have the rain gutter bookshelves! Here's a picture of ours: Rain Gutter Shelves
They do not hold many books - my boys always tried to shove more books than worked into the shelves. But, it was a good way to keep certain themes out during the year.
We took them down when we re-arranged rooms and lost the wall space.
Melanie
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: Oct 29 2006 at 4:39am | IP Logged
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I second the idea of pull-out containers under beds for books. An inexpensive choice is dollar store dishpans; cheap, virtually indestructible and small enough for children to negotiate; unlike most under the bed storage containers, which can be quite unwieldy if storing heavy objects like books. One other advantage to dishpans is that they glide nicely over carpet or flooring; some plastice containers we've used have holes or bumps that tend to catch or scrape when pulling them in and out.
Another thing you may want to consider is using two bookshelves back to back and placing them perpendicular to a wall, rather than having their backs flush with the wall. This doubles your bookshelf space and can also serve as a room divider, which can be useful if you're trying to achieve multi purpose use of your space. I've also seen several ideas, in a decorating book from the library, for floor to ceiling bookshelves in hallways, up a stairway, even in place of a door (the shelf was hinged and replaced a regular door). Incredible use of space! A double loft bed, with two sided shelving at the ends and one side could be another great way to incorporate more shelf space into your new home environment! Building creative shelving could be great practice for the larger projects you're sure to be tackling in the near future!
May your adventure of creating a new home be filled with much grace, peace and joy! Enjoy the journey!
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Patty LeVasseur
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Erin,
I have been giving your question a lot of thought and here is what I have thought of so far. I would pack up the encyclopedia and a lot of other reference books that I felt that I could find the information on line. I would eliminate doubles (like just keeping the complete shakespere and packing up the individual books that we have even though it is nicer to read the plays that way. My boys also each have a set of the chronicles of Narnia and I would just keep one.) I would really look at what the library has and try not to duplicate what they do have. If they have the classics, but no Catholic books for instance than I would pack up the classics and keep as many of the Catholic books that I could. I also really like the idea of rotating books in if you find that you have to eliminate more than you really want to. Boy do I feel for you!
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Erin
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| Posted: Nov 02 2006 at 5:47am | IP Logged
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Thank you for all your wonderful ideas, unfortunately the house really is tiny, 28m by 32m including the carport
The largest bedroom is 5m by 2.7m, if I put the beds in there into bunks I can manage a bookcase. If I put the girls into a double bed with bunk on top I can fit one in there. And I intend to put a bookcase in the loungeroom but may have to eliminate the tv 
There seriously is no hallway, nor wall space as bunks will take them. So gutter shelving won't work. And I intend on using under the beds for their toys. I will have to eliminate their clothes anyway just to fit them in.
Patty,
Thanks for your ideas, I was thinking along those ideas, I have already told the dc that they can't double up on Redwall. A good idea about the Catholic books. I've also been looking at literature lists for ideas. Angelicum Academy, Mater Ambalis those sorts of lists for ideas. I think I might devote one bookcase to quality literature, Beatrix Potter for the younger ones etc.
Can anyone recommend other lists that are listed with age approximations?
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Erin
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: Nov 03 2006 at 8:17am | IP Logged
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Erin,
If you put bunkbeds in the 5m x 2.7m BR, you could center the bunkbeds along a longer 5m wall, then put two sets of bookshelves, one butted up against each end of the bunkbeds (I would anchor them to the beds for safety). You could also attach wall pockets to the back of the bookshelves, so they can be reached from inside the bunks. We've used wall pockets in a tiny camper and slightly larger motorhome and they really maximaize small space (get the widest and deepest version you can find...we had legal size, extra-wide ones that we found on clearance and they hold several picture books or workbook size books quite nicely). It would work similar to the wall gutter concept, but hold a lot more.
Other space-saving ideas; use vertical space as much as possible, use hooks on walls, ceilings or insides and outsides of cabinets and closets. We've also utilize pegboard, salvaged from stores, in many spaces like broom closets, laundry areas, etc. The sides of your booksehelves could also accomodate hooks or more wall pockets! Can you tell I like to use every available square inch of space? Have fun coming up with creative ways to maximize your blessed space!!!
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Drastically downsizing no. of bookcases
