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Leocea
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 8:51am | IP Logged
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Ladies, we have a book problem, lol.
I have a whole wall of bookshelves and several more freestanding shelves for long-term storage. That is not really my problem.
My problem is that I am a voracious reader of several books at a time, and.... so are my children, even the non-readers (?). We have books in the bathroom, books in the kitchen, books in the car, two baskets in my room, three baskets in the living room, etc. Still, there are piles, books everywhere!!!!
When I was the only reader, it was easier to contain.
I don't want to slow anyone down in reading, and I know how I like to have books available, not *all the way downstairs*. 
I'm thinking that we will need to purge the baskets and return books to long-term shelves more frequently?
I am gearing up for spring cleaning, and have been reading some of the threads on simple beauty. I would like to have a surface with just a vase of flowers, but it would have to be on a surface free of books!
(I am good at keeping one cabinet clear, for the Blessed Mother's statue)
Any ideas? As I am writing this, of course, I have come up with some ideas. Most include more work, of course, less time for reading all of those books!!!
Did I mention I love books? 
I know I cannot be the only one on this board with a Noah's ark of books.
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Your sister in Christ,
Leocea, wife to Ken, mom to KC 22, Caitlin 17, Malea 13, Mary Catherine 10,Elina Rose,6,Andrew,3 and Lauren Celine,1. Angels 5/05, 5/08, 2/11 and Cameron 7/26/11.
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guitarnan
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 9:09am | IP Logged
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Oh, no, you're definitely not alone!
My mom was just here and encouraged me to purge books...but we already did...and they are still double-stacked on my paperback bookshelves...
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 9:14am | IP Logged
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Consider clearing one small shelf (or even just half a shelf can be quite lovely as a space set aside), a small table, or the center of your kitchen table for a small, but lovely vase of flowers. Flowers (and my preference are those gathered wild, and offered generously from obliging fields and meadows) bring such a freshness to the home. The eye is usually drawn right to them!
I choose one surface in my kitchen - the surface of my cranberry cabinet - to keep free of clutter. It is my *pretty space*. That's not say that stuff doesn't land there all the time, it does! But, I make it a discipline to tend to it lovingly twice a day - morning and afternoon. It is a part of our quick tidy time, and I just move objects that gather there on to their homes, or to another landing spot. This leaves this surface free for flowers, or vases of fall leaves, winter twigs that we might bring inside to force open, etc. I enjoy something visually pretty, and this is the one surface I make a priority for keeping clear so that beauty is visible.
By the way, I happen to find a stack of books quite pretty!!  Add a small doily to the table or an old embroidered hanky, and a tiny statue of Our Lady, or a tiny vase of flowers! Perfectly pretty while also accommodating your beloved books!
I really want to encourage you, Leocea! This doesn't have to be a gigantic undertaking, nor does it require a great deal of your time/effort! Really, the initial doing and setting up could be accomplished in an afternoon's time! If you're concerned the area might be overtaken quickly in stacks of books, peg the discipline of tidying that little space to something you do every day....like....as you walk back to make your bed, tidy your pretty shelf.  What a delight it is to have one pretty space that is set aside...just to be beautiful!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 9:59am | IP Logged
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There is no way I can purge our books to absolutely clear shelves, there are too many and everywhere. I do however have a couple of really good hiding places so that the shelves we do have look tidy and neat. And per dh request I did set on aside one shelf that was more "free" of space .
I assigned one of our built in shelves that faces our entrance door as "the big display" shelf. Meaning there are books on it but they're arranged in very "beautiful" ways with plenty of objects as well. For example my decorating books mixed with some Sharon Lovejoy books are laid flat and are each turned a bit as to create a sprial staircase look, then an object sits on top (for now its an old white with flowers ceramic creamer holder with a wood spool holder). Next to it on a book display stand is my Keeping a Nature Journal. On the other side are some old paperback Sierra guides and journals. The point stack in creative ways.
Now for my hiding places:
The t.v.'s in our living room and family both sit inside armoirs and have cabinet storage underneath them: this contains lot of "curriculum" type books we might use later in the year or for planning purposes.
Then, I'v had a very nice huge trunk/chest. It is ornate and sits in our living room wall headed towards the hall way. Well it always stores some of my seasonal clothing not in use. Recently I've started putting all our advent and holiday books in there which we only bring out at it's appropriate time.
My last tip: I've always stored the text books we are done with in the garage in bins. But since we have been going full CM lately I'm finding I have many more other types of books. So ss we study a history era and we are done with it. I started putting all those books in a plastic bin labeled it Early American History for example and that sits in the garage. Note, I did leave a couple out that I know are quick references through out the year, but say I stored our 10 If You Lived... books or our Adler Picture Book of ... (My D'aulaire's stay on the shelf).
I hope this helps just a bit .
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Blessings,
Jenny
Mom to dds(00,03) and dss(05,06,08,09)
Grace in Loving Chaos
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JamieCarin
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 11:26am | IP Logged
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My husband and I are huge book people and now we have two little ones and they come with heaps of their own books. Books seem to always be coming in through one of us or the other and we haven't even STARTED formally homeschooling yet!
So here is my book policy:
1. the children's books have to be quality over quantity. If it is garbage it is out. If my husband and I both HATE reading it it is out. Pop culture/cartoon characters are out (with some exceptions made for Thomas and Charlie and Lola..those are the two programs we "do" here)
2. If the information in the book could be easily found online the book is out.
3. If you are really never going to use the book again it is out (think old college textbooks).
4. New books are always borrowed from the library first or borrowed from a friend. If it is an absolute MUST HAVE then we can purchase it. This has been HUGE...I have saved myself from purchasing some books I THOUGHT I simply had to have, but then when I actually went through it I realized there was nothing in it that really interested me. Saved heaps of time and money!
Hope that helps
Jamie
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Wife to Claudio for 9yrs, Mom to Ben (4), and Annabella (almost 3), and Beatrice (born 1/17/12)
Ad Silvam Ibimus
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 12:46pm | IP Logged
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JamieCarin wrote:
| 4. New books are always borrowed from the library first or borrowed from a friend. If it is an absolute MUST HAVE then we can purchase it. This has been HUGE...I have saved myself from purchasing some books I THOUGHT I simply had to have, but then when I actually went through it I realized there was nothing in it that really interested me. Saved heaps of time and money! |
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I've been really trying to do this the past two years, and it does save quite a bit of money.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 12:55pm | IP Logged
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I think that most likely you do need to return books to the shelves more frequently. Things get in a jam around here mostly because things don't get returned to where they should be when someone is done with them.
But if you need more loctions for books.. book bags can be handy and hand off door knobs or hooks on the back of the door or whatever.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Mackfam
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 1:50pm | IP Logged
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Leocea,
Can you help me narrow in on your question?
Is it that you have a number of piles of books ongoing spread around your home?
Leocea wrote:
| My problem is that I am a voracious reader of several books at a time, and.... so are my children, even the non-readers (?). We have books in the bathroom, books in the kitchen, books in the car, two baskets in my room, three baskets in the living room, etc. Still, there are piles, books everywhere!!!! |
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I do understand to some extent. I typically read several books at one time. I did end up limiting myself to one basket of books and that was a help. It's a concrete limit - I may fill *this* basket with reading I'm working on, and I cannot add another book until I remove one from the basket. It's a discipline, but it has been helpful! The thing I love about my basket is that I keep periodicals, newspapers, pdf articles I've printed and books in there, and it travels with me from comfy chair, couch, to bed with ease.
:: Could you consider assigning each person in the family a reasonably sized basket (with handles) to contain their reading material? All must follow the same rules - to add a book to the basket, another book must be completed and returned to the shelves.
:: Consider one large basket in a common area of the home to function as a book return basket. If a child has completed a book they can drop off to this basket. It can become a weekly chore for everyone to spend 15 minutes working together to return books.
:: Organize your shelves!!! I know, this sounds like a monumental task, but after doing this I am SO AMAZED at how much easier it has become to return books to their proper homes. I like to organize by subject matter and further break it down from there...so history gets organized by century on the shelves...liturgical year gets organized by month, and so on, but there are a gazillion different ways to organize books. After you've put in all that hard work, find a way to label your shelves - whether you print labels and simply tape the thin label onto the shelf, or invest in a label maker, it's helpful to you and the kids - everyone knows what goes where.
:: Picture book shelves need to be super easy to maintain. I keep ours nearest where we most often read together. My children remove picture books several times a day. I keep a rectangular basket on our coffee table and the littles know that when they're done reading, they can return their books to the basket. Later in the day (or week....sometimes they enjoy hearing a familiar story several times before we put it away), I ask them to help me put their books away. It doesn't take too long, but it's a system that works and helps the little people be responsible for the books they remove from the shelves.
Leocea wrote:
| I'm thinking that we will need to purge the baskets and return books to long-term shelves more frequently? |
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Yes. That's exactly what I was thinking! I don't think it will be too hard to do, the biggest part will be coming up with a system to regularly return books to the right place on the shelf.
Leocea wrote:
| I am gearing up for spring cleaning, and have been reading some of the threads on simple beauty. I would like to have a surface with just a vase of flowers, but it would have to be on a surface free of books! |
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I'm at myself because when I first read your post I thought you were just looking for ideas for a way to clear some books and find a place for a pretty vase of flowers. And thus...my first answer. Can you tell I'm all about the pretty flowers?
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Erin
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 4:08pm | IP Logged
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Leocea
Another soul mate  
I really must get my day started but I can't bear not to join the party so for now a couple of links where we've talked about culling books before.
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
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SeaStar
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| Posted: March 22 2011 at 4:09pm | IP Logged
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JamieCarin wrote:
My husband and I are huge book people and now we have two little ones and they come with heaps of their own books. Books seem to always be coming in through one of us or the other and we haven't even STARTED formally homeschooling yet!
So here is my book policy:
1. the children's books have to be quality over quantity. If it is garbage it is out. If my husband and I both HATE reading it it is out. Pop culture/cartoon characters are out (with some exceptions made for Thomas and Charlie and Lola..those are the two programs we "do" here)
2. If the information in the book could be easily found online the book is out.
3. If you are really never going to use the book again it is out (think old college textbooks).
4. New books are always borrowed from the library first or borrowed from a friend. If it is an absolute MUST HAVE then we can purchase it. This has been HUGE...I have saved myself from purchasing some books I THOUGHT I simply had to have, but then when I actually went through it I realized there was nothing in it that really interested me. Saved heaps of time and money!
Hope that helps
Jamie |
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I think these are great guidelines. The whole quality vs quantity is a very real issue. I have limited space- but, aside from that, I find that too much of my free time is taken up caring for things... time that I could be sewing or reading or having fun with the kids.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Books, books, everywhere!
