For all of you book lovers out there, the time has come. Time to organize the bookshelves! When you have books that sit on shelves, there comes a little extra house cleaning. No matter how many books you have or how often you read them, dust still seems to find it’s way onto the shelves and the books. During this spring cleaning season, take a look at your bookcases and dusty shelves. Instead of just cleaning the shelves, (or if they don’t require any cleaning) it may be a good idea to do a little in-depth book organization.
To begin, walk around your house and tidy up what books you have on the shelf. Straighten them, dust the tops off and clean the shelves themselves. Find any stray or wandering books and bring them to one place. Get rid of any books that you no longer need or want. You might be wondering,
“How do I know what books to keep?” Here are three things to keep in mind.
- The rules for donating and selling are: If it takes up space causes cluttering in your life, is tattered torn, isn’t used anymore, or you can’t think of when you might use it – Get rid of it.
- If the book is something that you WILL use or do use, can pass down to a family member, or has sentimental value or you just plain want it – Keep it.
- You may not be sure whether to place it in the donate or keep box. In that case put away somewhere, the basement, or in another room and come back to in about 6 months. Do you still want it? If not, let it go.
Now that you’ve figured out what’s going and what’s staying it’s time to organize!
Here are some tips to organizing the bookcase or shelf.
- In order to keep dust to a minimum, store the books at the edge of the shelf.
- Store board books for the kids in baskets or plastic drawers. When they read have them only take out one at a time. This makes clean up a little easier.
- Look over your book regularly. Give books away to friends, and neighbors. You can also sell and donate them. A book unread, sitting in a box hiding in the basement, attic or a corner doesn’t do anyone any good.
- You can make your shelves more interesting by switching books around. Stack them or store them upright at other times.
- You can add a decorative and/or seasonal flair to your bookcase.
- (For those of you who enjoy color schemes) A fun way to spice up the collection might be to arrange the books by spine color.
Books provide us with knowledge and entertainment. They stir our imaginations and take us places we might never see. As you clean your shelves and purge your collections remember –
“. . .There are treasures in books that all the money in the world cannot buy, but the poorest laborer can have for nothing.” ~Robert G. Ingersoll 1833-1899