After for teaching for 30 years and moving for 35 years,
we have accumulated a huge collection of books.
Most have been read and reread.
I cannot decide wether or not to keep them.
We both have Kindles.
Will that be our option for the next twenty years?
Weeding will begin in a week.
I got today of most of the fiction except for a few classics on the first round. I did keep some reference, craft, and home improvement or travel stuff. But as the kindle graphics get better I've started weeding those as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen we downsized we vowed to get rid of ALL of our books, since they're all available either online or at the library. Afterwards, we declared success when we got it down to three bookcases full.
ReplyDeleteIf that's true for you, you are an unusual reader. Many good books have never become e-books, they were never "popular" enough or enough copies sold to be selected to be transformed into an e-book. Books that were put on tape, were never transferred to digital form by Audible or CD. Libraries don't keep books forever, most public libraries have limited shelf space & so have a policy of selling/getting rid of any book that hasn't been read in X number of months or years. A change in tax laws that affected book publishing years ago now, meant that new books, even books that sell fairly well, go out of print much faster then in say, the '60's & 70's. Books, very good books, books once popular, definitely disappear from all but the 2nd hand book market and eventually disappear from there as well.
DeleteI think we moved about 6 or 8 books. We had a lot even with ongoing decluttering. They are all available elsewhere and, well, I hate to dust and prefer to read something new. My best book friends are the local library and Friends of the Library sales. Buying is a distant 3rd now. BTW, the longer you keep them the more likely whoever you donate them to will have to pay to have them hauled away to be turned to pulp. I learned that from years of sorting donated books at the library.
ReplyDelete