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SusanJ
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My kids are still young (1 and 3 in the fall) so we're not doing any "schooling" to speak of, but our family are big book lovers (as are all of you, I assume). Before kids we had over 1000 books for ourselves (which is a lot more than anyone else we know). Since kids we've added dozens of picture books. I'm really trying to push family to give our kids books for birthdays and Christmas presents. Most of them have really bad taste in literature, so I've been working on an Amazon wish list. I hope that's not too tacky. Anyway, I'm far from done for this year, but it already has 125 books on it. I don't expect people to buy all of those for us this year, but I do wonder if my family will think we're nuts when they see how many books we want--especially when we already have so many. So, I guess I'm wondering what size home library you all consider normal for homeschoolers. I want to be able to justify ourselves to family. I'm also a bit concerned for ourselves that perhaps we love books too much and should use the library more. But, many of the books we love are not at the library and I just love having these great books around.
Thanks in advance for thoughts.
Susan
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CatholicMommy
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I've been cataloging all of ours on the computer as I pack them up - trying to sort boxes by subject, etc. I can only work in bits and pieces because we have SO MUCH. And I've already sold/given/trashed SO MUCH! I'm included everything that's in written format - including all 5 of our regular Bibles and umpteen children's/babies' Bibles. It adds up quick.
My computer says I'm at 1941 right now. I'm not done. And not all of the books even come up on the system, so those are packed separately to deal with while unpacking later. 
I don't even know where we got most of the books - just collected over the years. I only have one child of my own right now, too.
We can't have even half of our books out at any one time - we don't room for bookshelves. After the move, I have people giving me bookshelves and I want at least one wall to be literally books - floor to ceiling, corner to corner - then one other wall almost completely bookshelves, with the lower shelves to hold all the Montessori work, cycling down as needed. Yes, I'm crazy - but it's so much fun!
I should just OPEN a library. 
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aussieannie
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I think a wish list is appropriate - family and friends like to know they are definately buying something that will be well appreciated and there is nothing worse than a tacky, 'twaddley' book.
We have alot, for ourselves, but particularly for the children, we just see it as our investment in their education and if we had them in schools (Catholic) there would be enormous fees to contend with, so book buying is a 'wholesome' expense in our house (but like everything, keeping to that budgeted amount is very important  )
What a great start for your little children Susan, when they are so young, I wish I had started when mine were that little...we started in earnest when my oldest was 7 and was reading encyclopedias and any book he could get his hands on - we didn't really want him reading adult books without our vetting carefully, so we knew it was time to buy good, wholesome Catholic and living books for children.
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JuliaT
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Susan you are so fortunate to be starting book collecting when your children are so young. We have always had lots of books in our house but they weren't all necessarily good books. There was lots of twaddle lingering on those shelves. It hasn't been until this past year that I have been filling up those shelves with a vengeance. I never had trouble with literature, but we are scarce in the history and science living books. So I am making up for lost time.
I think the Amazon wish list is a wonderful idea. I don't think it's tacky. It's better for your family to buy your children a book that will be used over and over again.
Happy book collecting,
Julia
mom to 3
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Juliainsk
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ElizLeone
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Those Amazon wish lists are also a great way just to keep track for your own purposes—whether birthday gift ideas, library books to place on hold, etc. I access my amazon wish list for my own reference all the time. (And I have some ridiculous number—like 700+!—on my wish list. I can tell you that I'm never at a loss for birthday gift ideas...
Good for you for collecting good books early. Now what to do with all those books can be an issue around here... 
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chicken lady
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I don't think that number seems high! The wish list is great, my belief is IF they ask I direct them to my list.
As for what size library....welllllll, can one have to many
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Erin
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Susan
I also have started cataloguing our books and haven't finished but it looks like it will be in the few thousand But quality is far more important than quantity. I have also been considering a 'wish list' with relatives.
Anne
As we don;t have Amazon here how were you considering presenting your wish list?
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Devoted
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I'm not much of a fan of "wish lists" and "registering for gifts." I feel, in many cases, wish lists are just holiday/birthday gift registries. We hated it when we got married and felt that we were just asking for gifts. When we became parents and were asked by many people to register for gifts at the local baby shops, we declined. It still isn't something we do but we do purchase from these lists for showers, weddings, et c.
Do you have a blog or family website. I know it will just seem like a silly splitting of hairs to make the distinction but perhaps you could make a section of interests and a section of books that look great, that you plan to purchase when funds are available . . . something like that.
When people ask about birthdays/holidays you can just tell them what your interests are and even refer them to your website if they press. They'll see what interests you.
But, no, to be honest that kind of registering I don't really feel comfortable with.
Sorry, I don't like to be the one who disagrees . . .
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domchurch3
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My daughter just had her 5th birthday party yesterday. A few days before the big day we had her uncle and aunts calling us for gift ideas that we knew she would like because they did not want to give her another Target gift card. I told them about a few book titles at Barnes and Nobel and just to make it easier for them, I went to B&N myself and had the store hold the books for them to choose from up at their front desk. My family was very appreciative, and we got some beautiful fiction books as well as a Klutz potholders book. After the party, I took pictures of our daughter spending 30 minutes just looking at all the lovely pictures. And of course, she wanted me to read one to her before bed. I used to think it was wrong to see those Birthday Wish bins at toy stores like Learning Express, but I've had to do enough gift shopping for a child whose likes I'm not sure of to know that I appreciate being told what they would enjoy. Plus, many people agonize over choosing a gift trying to figure out if they already own that book. I think it helps me to know that I'm the one choosing the stuff to put on the wishlist, not my daughter. Hope that helps. :)
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CatholicMommy
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I used to hate wishlists too! To an extent I still do - more of a necessary evil in order to ensure we don't get any more twaddle in this house! How many toys my son has received that have had to mysteriously come up missing, because they break easy, or are just obnoxious, or we just don't have room for. For his first Christmas, he received nothing but clothes because I did NOT provide a wishlist to his grandparents and aunts - the only toy he received was picked out by his aunt while I was shopping with her. They are not here all the time and do not know what we already have stored away for later years, bought on clearance somewhere, or what a godparent has already bought. It seems that everyone has established fairly predictable areas each covers: grandparents get the big/expensive stuff, one grandpa making big wood things here and there (rocking horse, balance beam); my sisters pick out other types of 'toys' and some books; godparents and Catholic friends purchase religious items; everyone else gives cash and gift cards to nicer stores. I still have people calling from the store to ask, "Which Tomie dePaola book, out of the following, does he not have?" or "Are 3 foot long handled gardening tools a good size?" I always send pictures of him using his gifts with his thank you cards.
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katilac
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I think most book loving couples top 1000 books very early on. Add kids to the mix, and yeah - - I know LOTS of people with a couple of thousand books.
We do have an Amazon wish list for our kids, but it was requested by far-away relatives. I personally would not let people know about it unless they specifically asked for gift ideas, and then I would say something like, "She's really into crafts, she loves things with a Tinkerbell theme, and she loves to read. If you decide you want to buy a book, we do have an Amazon wish list."
Just trying to strike a balance between offering ideas and being picky, ya know?
I would reconsider how many books you keep on your public wish list - - perusing hundreds of books is going to dismay many people! I would chop that list in half. That still gives PLENTY of choices. I also try to make sure that a good number of titles on our wish list are what people percieve as "fun" and "kid-friendly," simply because that is what most people enjoy purchasing.
So in addition to the art, mythology and nature books that *I* know my kids would love, I also have Nancy Drew stationary, Mad Libs, music cds, etc etc.
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SusanJ
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Thanks for all these thoughts.
I talked to my husband about this last night. He thought that directing people to a wishlist with hundreds of books was in really poor taste. But I do like having the list there for my own reference. I can add to it whenever I hear a good recommendation or find something we really like at the library.
The compromise we came up with is that I kept the huge list (which was formerly the list for both kids) but renamed it "Homeschool Curriculum Ideas." It's still public but it's more obvious why it's so huge. Then I made separate wishlists for each child with about ten books on each. I can add a few as the list gets depleted.
I do know that some in my family really appreciate the lists, so perhaps I'll limit the advertising to them. I do want to be more charitable about gift-receiving but my kids are the only two in the family and both sets of parents are divorced and remarried so we have four sets of grandparents, two sets of great-grandparents and several aunts and uncles all buying stuff for our kids. Things pile up pretty quickly around here and we just can't store lots of twaddle and toys that never get used.
Thanks for chiming in, everyone!
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aussieannie
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I think I started to soften towards registeries (really talking about weddings here) when my closest friend recieved 8 clocks - and I am not joking!!!
Then you have the task of chosing which of your loved one's gifts is to hang on your wall and which is to be stored or given away etc. (because I just could not believe that you could have a house where 8 clocks are necessary! ) There is something hard in those sort of choices and decisions too, that doesn't seem comfortable...
I don't really know what the answer is, quite truthfully.... It IS hard expressing to someone about what gifts would be suitable and it IS hard to have to 'shelve' gifts given in love that are just not acceptable in our home(twaddly books, immodest children's clothes, Bratz dolls, Harry Potter books etc. etc.)... Maybe gift vouchers are the order of the day?
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katilac
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I think that separating the lists is an excellent idea!
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jugglingpaynes
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I think a list is a great idea. It's so...so organized! You won't end up with three copies of Goodnight Moon like my oldest did.
My hubby and I come from book loving families. I don't think we would could live in a house where we weren't surrounded by books. Luckily, I had saved many of my favorite children's books from my own childhood, being both pack rat and not wanting to grow up. By the time I had children, they already had a good sized library.
I honestly would be afraid to count all my books. Maybe you should ask how many bookshelves and bookcases I have instead.
Peace and Laughter,
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cathhomeschool
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I am not sure how many books we have in our home library. I make heavy use of the library and have given away tons of books because of that. We try to buy only what the library doesn't carry and also chapter books that are big favorites and will be read over and over again.
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catholicmomma
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I haven't the foggiest idea how many I have. But I do know that I have a serious problem. Is there a bibliophile anonymous?
Actually, I'm glad I looked at this today. I have spent the last few days rearranging my basement to make room for a literature tutorial class I'm teaching, and I seriously need help with organization suggestions. At the moment there are hundreds of books piled in laundry baskets waiting to be scanned in to my new LibraryThing account and re-set onto bookshelves.
Does anyone physically catalogue their books? If so, any supply suggestions (lables, etc)? The fiction is not a problem (alphabetical), I have 4 bookcasesfor kid fiction, and one for picture books; it's the non-fiction that's driving me nuts.
It seems that in my house, I'm the only one who knows where to find a book, and that includes knowng where to put it when you're done. In other words, after 10 years of collecting, it's always a mess.
Oh, and my greatest pieces of advice to all younger ladies: learn to live at the library and on it's reservation website NOW (always previewing before you buy), don't let ANY junk books into your house (they only collect dust and clutter your shelves), and invest in some good wood shelves if you can (my partical board is falling apart from the weight).
Looking forward to suggestions!
Lisa B in OH
ds 13, dd 11, dd 8, ds 7 and 3 baby saints
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jugglingpaynes
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catholicmomma wrote:
Oh, and my greatest pieces of advice to all younger ladies: learn to live at the library and on it's reservation website NOW (always previewing before you buy), don't let ANY junk books into your house (they only collect dust and clutter your shelves), and invest in some good wood shelves if you can (my partical board is falling apart from the weight).
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ROFL!! We DO practically live at the library (2 actually)and the online reservation website! I've been known to rescue books that they take out of circulation! (They're getting rid of Twelve Great Philosophers? And Standard Deviants Spanish? Not the Ladybug magazines from last year! I must save them!)It's gotten so bad one librarian will actually save things to see if I want them before she throws them away. That's how I got a set of 2004 Encyclopedia Americana. I think libraries have the same issues we do. If a book isn't being used/circulated, they need to make room for books that are.
I agree that solid wood shelves are the only way to go for books. I built bookshelves into one wall of my daughter's room. She filled every shelf within a month, and she WAS decluttering the junk books. One of our biggest problems is needing to keep 3 levels of books. I give lower shelves to our youngest's board books and readers. My oldest uses the higher shelves she can reach, and my son has shelves above his desk for non-fiction. I devote one shelf in the living room just to library books. I learned the hard and expensive way that they need their own space, otherwise I get very panicky on our library days!
They have groups at Library Thing. Maybe we should start a bibliophile anonymous.
Peace and Laughter,
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Becky Parker
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Put me on the list for the "BA" (bibliophile anonymous) membership! We have so many books!! My husband is also a bibliophile so between the two of us it is almost ridiculous. I have to say though that I have spent much time over the last couple of years de-twaddling so I feel really good that the books we have are quality.
I don't keep a wish list at Amazon, although I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea at this point. When people ask what we want, I always say "books" but really, that is hard for them because they don't know what books we already have. If I had a list somewhere, I could direct them to it. I tend to think practically, and really, if someone tells me they have a wish list I'm glad to use it for buying gifts. I think by having one at Amazon or something similiar, it gives people a choice to use it or not.
Just rambling here.
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Becky
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: How many books in your home library?
