Get Rid of the Book Collection Blues

How many of you have books scattered throughout your home: in drawers, cluttered into shelves, ontop of tables, or in the car? Literature is designed to educate, enhance, and stimulate our minds. You should find solace and relaxation in sitting down with a good book. A disorganized book collection takes away from the relaxing literary experience. Also, how many times have you needed a reference tool for a certain topic and couldn't get answers, because you had no clue where the book was amongst the clutter? Today, is a new day and we are going to revamp our book collections together! If you don't think you have a collection, it's because your books are probably not organized collectively in one common place. Follow the list of instructions below and get your books in order. Are you ready?

1. Pull all books off the shelves, tables, out of the car, etc.

This allows you to physically see exaclty how many books you really own and how much shelving space is necessary to store them properly.


2. Quickly flip through each book. Remove items, such as bookmarks, money, sticky notes, etc.

You would be surprised how much money and how many lost documents are found inside of books, used as a bookmark. I'd hate to bust any bubbles, but your 2009 W-4 is not the best idea for a bookmark. :) Anything that was not attached to the book when it was purchased should be removed.

To make things more interesting, all money found, if any must be donated to a charity of your choice. Those funds could be better allocated,  if they were simply a "place holder" in a book you haven't read in years.

3. Seperate wanted books from unwanted books.

Books from your personal collection are a great, inexpensive gift idea for a loved one. Sort through your collection and DONATE or GIFT all books you no longer need. Place these books neatly in a box and drop them off or ship them to a great literary organization

Here are a few national programs dedicated to increasing literacy through donated books:

   - http://www.housingworks.org/
   - http://www.booksthroughbars.org/
   - http://www.booksforafrica.org/
   - http://www.craigslist.org/
   - http://www.justgive.org/
   - http://www.bookcrossing.com/


4. Write down titles and authors of all damaged books. Then, recycle them.

All books that are damaged or torn to the point of being illegible must go! There is no point of holding onto items with no purpose or use. If the book is worth having, jot down the author and title, visit your local bookstore, and repurchase.


5. Thoroughly clean the shelves with furniture polish or all-purpose cleaner.

If you do not have a shelving system in your home or do not own bookshelves, there are several inexpensive shelving options. Visit your local Target, Walmart, Container Store, Big Lots, or even http://www.craigslist.com/ for great shelving solutions.


6. Organize your collection onto the shelf.

Decide how you would like to organize your collection. There is no set way to categorize your books, because everyone's collection is different. Choose a system that is individually unique and stick with it.
Here are a few cateegory ideas:

   - by title
   - by genre
   - by size
   - by author
   - by subject

Be sure to keep it simple. Overcomplicating this process is a sure way to end up disorganized in a matter of weeks. Personally, I organize my books by genre and size. For example: Self-help (genre), tallest book starting from the left of the shelf, decreasing in book size to the right.


7. Consider labeling the shelves based on your previously selected categories.
Use a hand-held label maker and neatly label each part of the shelf that represents a new category (i.e.  Authors A - C, Titles D - G, Horror, Romance, Kids, Reference)


Get rid of your book collection blues and follow these steps! Please, comment below on your progress or tweet me @organizenrefine on how this worked for you. Enjoy your day friends!


Until We Blog Again....

CEO, Organize N Refine