The Great Book Purge of 2014

[Focus]

One of the first items on my post-retirement list was to considerably trim my possessions, particularly the hundreds of books I've collected over decades (many of which I've never gotten around to reading, along with others I've read and am unlikely to revisit).

In the process, I've come to realize that my collecting arose from living in an era of limited access to information and entertainment. Now, with easy electronic access to nearly infinite new and old material, there's no need to do this anymore. If I were in my 20s now, I doubt I'd have any physical books at all.

I can't bring myself to get rid of them all in one fell swoop, though. Has anyone else here experienced something similar in ER?

 

[Midpack]

Yes. Repeating myself, but I fixed the issue years ago by allowing myself only one bookshelf. Once it was full, something had to go if I bought another book. It may sound simple-minded but it's worked for me. My inspiration was my parents who (still) have 5 bookshelves full of books, 90% of which they haven't picked up in 20 years - that never made any sense to me, they're really just in the way/taking up space unnecessarily.

I sold books on half.com, gave a few to friends, donated some to local groups and our library, and just threw some away.

I also finally realized there are very few books I ever reread, so I just wait until they appear at our library, check them out, and read them, and return. If I want to reread any of them, I can just check them out again. The few new books that I "have to have" I mostly purchase as eBooks now.

 

[FIREd]

When we downsized, we got rid of hundreds of books. We made 3 piles: The books we did not care to keep (donated to goodwill), the books we wanted to keep and that were available in electronic format (for those, we donated the paper book and bought the ebook), and finally the books we wanted to keep but that were not available in electronic format (mostly art books). We kept the latter, roughly 100 paper books gracing our office shelves.

 

[robnplunder]

Ditto for CDs, VHS, DVD, Bluray discs. Everything is easily accessible in digital format. In my prep for ER, I have been donating them but not fast enough.

 

[Beldar]

Even though I won't ER until next year, I have been culling my work-related technical library (what an out-of-body experience). I have 35yrs of tomes that are going out the door to our local used book reseller for store credit. Or to the local VVA group for auction.

And I have been periodically culling other books that I thought were "neat" and worth saving for future reference. Well, the future is now and I'll never refer to them again, so off they go.

Those homes in the WSJ with ceiling high bookcases and hinged mobile ladders look really neat but I need the wall space for all of the other valuable junk I've collected over life (like every cell phone I've owned since the '80s, etc).

Is there a de-cluttering sub-forum here somewhere?

 

[Focus]

When we downsized, we got rid of hundreds of books. We made 3 piles: The books we did not care to keep (donated to goodwill), the books we wanted to keep and that were available in electronic format (for those, we donated the paper book and bought the ebook), and finally the books we wanted to keep but that were not available in electronic format (mostly art books). We kept the latter, roughly 100 paper books gracing our office shelves.

That's a good system and pretty close to my own, although I'm donating the discarded books to the public library, which I use to check out e-books.

You also mention the one category that I don't think translates well to e-books: large, colorful art books. Darn it. Would love to shed those pounds.

 

[Focus]

Ditto for CDs, VHS, DVD, Bluray discs. Everything is easily accessible in digital format. In my prep for ER, I have been donating them but not fast enough.

I draw the line at Blu-ray discs, for these reasons...

All About Why Blu-ray Is Still Better Than Streaming Today

 

[unclemick]

One of the first items on my post-retirement list was to considerably trim my possessions, particularly the hundreds of books I've collected over decades (many of which I've never gotten around to reading, along with others I've read and am unlikely to revisit).

In the process, I've come to realize that my collecting arose from living in an era of limited access to information and entertainment. Now, with easy electronic access to nearly infinite new and old material, there's no need to do this anymore. If I were in my 20s now, I doubt I'd have any physical books at all.

I can't bring myself to get rid of them all in one fell swoop, though. Has anyone else here experienced something similar in ER?

Katrina. That was 2005. Now I'm trying to keep it down to one shelf and use the internet. Haven't got a Kindle or the like yet but leaning that direction.

heh heh heh -

 

[braumeister]

Libraries around here are happy to take donated books. They will even give you a receipt for tax purposes if you want one.

They won't accept textbooks, but most others are fine.

Hardly any of the donated books will ever appear on a library shelf, but they have annual sales (maybe semiannual?) where people show up in droves to buy cheap books. The library uses the funds to help run their operations, so everyone benefits.

I've donated many hundreds of books this way over the years. It's an easy way to get them out of the house (even though I admit it hurts to part with some of them despite being very unlikely rereads).

 

[FIREd]

You also mention the one category that I don't think translates well to e-books: large, colorful art books. Darn it. Would love to shed those pounds.

I think that art books would look fantastic on my iPad's retina screen. I don't know why they are not made more widely available in e-book formats.

 

[W2R]

I went from 85 large boxes of books back in 2000, to about 6-8 boxes of books now. It's hard to tell how many, because they aren't in boxes any more. They fit in my 5-shelf barrister's bookcase plus a 4-shelf bookcase, with room left over.

Most of them were donated to the public library. I donated some when I moved from my apartment into my present house, but most were donated back in 2010 when we were planning to move to Missouri. I have not acquired any books other than Kindle books since that time.

The dismal anticipation of moving books provides tremendous motivation to divest oneself of them.

I can't bring myself to get rid of them all in one fell swoop, though. Has anyone else here experienced something similar in ER?

I couldn't either. My books meant the world to me! I culled them repeatedly to reduce the numbers to where they are. And now, honestly I don't miss those that are gone as much as I thought I would. I think I could get rid of all but a shelf full of what is left. But, I'm not in the process of moving so I am procrastinating.

 

[Dash man]

We've had to simply throw books away since our library refuses to accept them. They claim it is too expensive to handle the volume of books they used to get when most of them they couldn't use. Recyclers don't want them because of the bindings. What a waste...Everything I read today is on my kindle or iPad.

 

[EastWest Gal]

One of the first items on my post-retirement list was to considerably trim my possessions, particularly the hundreds of books I've collected over decades (many of which I've never gotten around to reading, along with others I've read and am unlikely to revisit).

In the process, I've come to realize that my collecting arose from living in an era of limited access to information and entertainment. Now, with easy electronic access to nearly infinite new and old material, there's no need to do this anymore. If I were in my 20s now, I doubt I'd have any physical books at all.

I can't bring myself to get rid of them all in one fell swoop, though. Has anyone else here experienced something similar in ER?

Yep. It was actually cathartic to get rid of the long useless medical textbooks and gigantic chemistry books from college. We're working on the smaller stuff next year.

Started the process last year before ER. One of the first things we bought when we got married was a set of 3 huge bookshelves. Our first and only credit expense our first year of marriage. DH had an album collection, and after 4 yrs of college and 4 yrs of med school, my book collection was ridiculous.

I actually threw away most of the textbooks as they were hopelessly out of date. They cost hundreds of dollars--I paid more for textbooks in med school than I did tuition and fees. What a waste...of space, of trees. Some books can be donated. And now all our paper is recyclable, so I can throw paperbacks into the recycling bin. Less guilt...

 

[CoolChange]

I have been struggling with this issue for some time; still not yet ER'd but getting closer.

These drop boxes have started popping up in my metro area: Drop Box Locations

I am planning to start using these instead of trash/recycle bins and hoping this will make parting with my dear books less painful.

 

[Major Tom]

I think that art books would look fantastic on my iPad's retina screen. I don't know why they are not made more widely available in e-book formats.

+1

Viewing images on a backlit screen is often a better experience than seeing them in print. It was the one factor that made it easy for me to make the move from printing my photos to storing and viewing them all electronically.

 

[steelyman]

Goodwill takes all my books. They sell them and (I suppose) dispose of those that sit too long.

 

[MBAustin]

I got rid of a lot when we moved several years ago (we had tons of built-in bookcases at our previous house, and much less here), but still have too many. I'll purge a few when I look at the bookshelf occasionally.

Our church has created a "Bookwall" (several bookcases in the fellowship hall). People bring in books they don't want. Volunteers arrange them logically and anyone can buy a hardback for $2 or a paperback for $1. They take books no one wants to the local used bookstore. This brings in close to $200/month and provides a source of reading material for those on a tight budget who aren't near a library.

 

[Walt34]

We had to deal with that with FIL, about 5 bookcases full, and sold/donated to a used book store or donated to the library. As with braumeister the library probably will sell the books rather than put them on the shelf and that's fine. They still end up in the hands of someone who wants it.

 

[Ronstar]

I still have a lot of my college texts and work related books. I'm going recycle the college texts and give my work related books to my former company. I'll have some vacant shelves on my bookshelves, but that's ok


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[photoguy]

Yes we've eliminated our entire book collection mainly by digitizing them and throwing away the physical book. This is actually not that hard with the right tools: a stack cutter to chop the spine off, a sheet fed document scanner, and OCR software (included with the scanner).

What wasn't digitized was either donated, sold, or recycled.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I donate to thrift shops and buy from thrift shops and library sales. I still like hard copy books I can dog ear and mark up. I get rid of a few bags a couple of times a year and then restock with several to new to me $1 books every week or so.

I used to sell at half price books but they offer so little these days I just donate the books I no longer want to the thrift shops instead. I probably have thousands of books but there are too many to count.

 

[rockyj]

I'm going through the great book purge now myself. The goal is to weed through decades of books to get down to those that will fit on our rather generous shelf space. The rest goes to book sale collection bins.

I still love physical books, but many I've collected are things picked up over the years that "I should read sometime" - e.g. classics - or that looked interesting at the time - e.g. collections of essays, memoirs, biographies, history or contemporary social commentary - or other things that I've read and enjoyed at some point but may have since lost much of their relevance. Some are keepsakes of one sort or another - art books, mementos from places we've visited, etc.

The easiest cuts have been made; now it's a tougher slog as I find myself skimming over bits and pieces while rediscovering what's there that might still be worth a look. Last night and this morning, for example, I found myself pleasantly skipping about an old copy of "Anne of Green Gables" and "Anne of Avonlea", of all things, which was actually a refreshing change from recent reads and may have earned its spot back on the shelf.

More recently (and going forward) I've been using the library for contemporary trade books of the "read once" variety that I previously might have purchased, having realized that the shelf life for those usually isn't that long. And the classics are always available at the library, should I ever really take an interest in getting around to them.

Having said that, I do enjoy having a decent collection around, including personal interest references (e.g. gardening, cooking, language, investment, etc.) as well as the more varied and idiosyncratic assortment from which to pick out something now and then to skip about in (or to reread) should the spirit so move.

 

[iac1003]

We donated close to 1,000 books to Goodwill when we moved from NY to TX. Plus we lost several hundred books when a tree fell on our second home in PA to ice and water damage and never replaced them.

We built a library room in our house with floor to ceiling bookshelves for the other almost 1,000 books we kept.

Now that we are thinking of moving again, I have convinced DH to get rid of virtually all the books. We shall see if that happens. I am not dragging all those books to another place again. I read everything on my kindle app now.


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[EastWest Gal]

We donated close to 1,000 books to Goodwill when we moved from NY to TX. Plus we lost several hundred books when a tree fell on our second home in PA to ice and water damage and never replaced them.

That's a lousy way to get rid of books.


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[Totoro]

I am trying to reduce my posessions in general more and more.

Gave away my entire CD collection a few years ago for example. Books are also on the way out. Doing a new 'purge' this week actually, probably including some clothes. Hardest part is getting rid of travel books (even though I keep the digital pictures).

Biggest hurdle every time is the fight against emotional attachment and a strange feeling of lose of self for things I don't use or even look at.

In a way it's an exercise in letting go.