Weeding - Part three in the "Build a Library Series

[mmcnealy]

In the first two parts of this series, I wrote what should be in your library. Now I'm going to talk about what shouldn't be in your library.

There's this great concept I learned about in library school, and its called "Weeding".

Weeding is going through the collection and getting rid of books or resources that are no longer useful to you. Let's face it, sooner or later you WILL run out of bookshelf space, or places to put bookshelves. And really, are every last one of those books useful to you? Do you enjoy them? Are the books you love getting lost in the books you are just anti-pathetic about? Have you bought too many books that were mistakes?

In which case, its time to weed.

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How to weed your personal library

• Start on a day you are in a good emotional state. Doing this on a day where you feel like becoming a monk/nun with no worldly possessions is not a good idea.



• Choose a room with books you own in it. (Weeding someone else's personal book collection is a big no-no!)


• Pick one book off the shelf up and ask yourself these questions:

1- Do I love this book? (Heck, lets be honest, Do you even remember OWNING this book!?!)
2- Is this a useful book?
3- Will I use it in the future?
4- Do I trust the research in it?
5- Will I read it again?

If the answer to any of these questions is "No", seriously ask yourself what its doing on your bookshelf. There are lots of other books out there that could use that bookshelf space and that you'd probably like better.

So, there are three choices you face
1. Blow the dust off the top and put it back on the shelf
2. If you didn't even remember owning it, put it in your pile of books to read sometime soon.
3. Get rid of it.

Lets talk about option #3 Getting rid of books.

The lovely thing about this new fangled invention called "the internet" is that it has made the buying and selling of used books so much simpler. I like to sell my used books on Amazon because that's where I've gotten the best prices for them and its the easiest for me to list them as being for sale.

Selling your research books that are no longer useful to you not only frees up bookshelf space, but it can also free up another precious commodity, CASH! That's right, the thing you use to buy more books with!

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So, in summary:
1- Go through your book collection and figure out what you don't want anymore
2- Sell the books
3- Buy new books that you like




Next post in the series I'll cover how to find books that you like and the whole "try before you buy" concept approach to building a library of books that you love.

Comments

[ashariel.livejournal.com]

I've been keeping books like that around because I assume no one else wants them!

[tattycat.livejournal.com]

Are you joking? ;) Post them-- trust me, no matter how much you think it's useless, there's always *someone* who will want it. It's how I got rid of the copy of Norris that has been taunting me for years.

(btw, hello! I saw you on naissa's LJ as well, and I think we're in a few communities together.)

[aliskye.livejournal.com]

Is Norris that dreadful? I realize the images are all redrawn and suspect but is there any value in it at all?

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

In my opinion, Norris was OK before all the new research was published on Elizabeth and the Tudors by Janet Arnold and lots of other people. Now because of all of the new material, its very obvious that Norris is an old resource and shouldn't be relied upon because there are better and easily obtained sources. Before Elizabeth's wardrobe unlocked came out, or Patterns of Fashion for that matter, or The Tudor Tailor, or The Tudor Housewife, there was Norris. Now there are all these new books, (with footnotes!), and Norris looks shabby.

[aliskye.livejournal.com]

Poor Norris. :)

I have all the rest of the books you mentioned, except The Tudor Housewife. I'll have to find that one. Thanks!

[tattycat.livejournal.com]

That, and Norris wasn't always 100% sure what he was looking at (and it shows in many spots), and in some cases he redrew images that weren't period to begin with (eg. Victorian images of medieval clothing).

However, I do sometimes point new folks at Norris so they can get an idea of the *silhouettes* they might like.

[ashariel.livejournal.com]

I'll have to go through my bookshelves, then. (and hi to you too!)

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

I'll second what tattycat said, there's always somebody who wants them.

[ashariel.livejournal.com]

It's definitely time for a weeding, if that's the case. My poor IKEA bookshelves are straining from all the weight :(

[alienorade.livejournal.com]

And if the Amazon thing is too much of a hassel (and pretty much anything with a selling price of under $3.50 you are going to loose some money on as a regular seller instead of a commercial seller), there is always the Friends of the Library Booksale!

Support your local library! Turn your headache into someone else's jewel!! (and if the book is something *nobody* wants, which is unlikely, YOU don't have to make the decision....)

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Great idea, than's for pointing that out!

[aliskye.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to weed out my books (but it's slow going of course). Can you talk more about selling them on Amazon? I hadn't really thought of that.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Its very easy!
Here's a help page from Amazon on this, http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161234

But basically its this simple.
- Go to the Amazon page of the book you want to sell
- Click on the button that says "Sell yours here" on the right hand side, half way down.
- Just follow the instructions on the screen
- When your item sells, pack it up and mail it via Media Mail within two business days.
- Amazon will transfer the funds to you bank account every month.

[aliskye.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I will check it out.

books books books

[(Anonymous)]

another option you might consider is Paperbackswap.com... look it up. it's excellent for passing books on to folks that want them and getting new ones for yourself.

I've used it for over a year now, and have really enjoyed it.

I'm loving your blog by the way!

--danielle
Gleann Abhann