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Love so many books….but…
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I love books and I love all of the wonderful books we get to enjoy using the Charlotte Mason approach to learning…but we have a lot of books! The one thing I always struggle with is keeping school books separate. I’m definitely type A personality and like things very organized–not that you would ever know that by looking at my home…anyway I’m currently trying to work on character building, home organization, and all that goes with keeping things running more smoothly. My children are 8, 6, 4, & 1. The question that I’m working my way up to is I’m using certain school books ever other year. It seems almost too much to pack them up and put away for one year, yet it’s getting to be so much to have them out with so many years of school–& I’m sure it only gets worse. But many of the books are so great that they are enjoyed on their own time, packing them away seems such a shame…I know without seeing my home it’s hard to give advice…we are blessed with definitely not a small home, but one very lacking in storage–no coat closet, pantry, linen closet, laundry room…anyway, I can’t stand clutter but am losing the battle with “stuff.” I’ve gotten rid of SO MUCH stuff, but our home still feels like things don’t have a place. I feel that between the poor habits/chores and stuff I have no time to enjoy my children because I’m always trying to fix our house…we’ve considered a new home but are not sure how long God will have us living in this town so we don’t feel that is the answer…so I know I’m all over the place here…I need to pray first …but any advice is welcome…mainly on the school books not in use question…the rest I think is just my rambling on life struggles:-). Thanks for listening!
Well I tried packing away a storage tote of books in the closet and I did not like it. Even though it was a clear box and I made a list of titles, it frustrated me that I could not easily get to the book if I wanted to and I still had a hard time remembering what books were in there. Even seeing the title on my list, I needed to see the cover to recognize it. So I ended up buying some nice sturdy tall bookcases on craigslist. For me, it is better to have them accessible. Keep only the really good ones if space is limited.
If you have some books you use every other year, and have deep enough bookshelves you could put 2 rows of books on the shelf, and just pull forward the set of books you want each year- easy access and doesn’t take up more storage space!
This is one of the reasons I LOVE having a separate schoolroom in our home! I can keep all the school books in there and not have to worry about dragging them out and putting them back again. I’m with you on the clutter…can’t stand it. But books, in my opinion, aren’t clutter. 😉
If you have a room (or sunroom, second living area, whatever) to spare, consider making it into a schoolroom. It doesn’t have to be anything super fancy or expensive. Or, if you don’t want to go that route, consider turning part of a room into a home library. Have a wall or two lined with shelving. Even with over 500 books in our current home library, I don’t need an ENTIRE room devoted to just books. A few shelves is working great so far. The great thing about books is that, stored properly, they really don’t take up a lot of space.
How about putting shelves around the top of the room, above the doors. That worked well for us in our old home. They are not as accessible as regular shelves, but more so than put away completely. And if you don’t have a place for regular ones, it’s a nice option.
Thank you for the good suggestions, even the encouragement that I am not crazy to have so many books…I think my husband wonders sometimes…he talks a lot about getting a few books for the year in school…I try to explain…but I am not always sure he gets it:) Thankfully he tolerates me, and my books!
My home library is currently 5,000-6,000 books. It is quite organized, but is by far the easiest thing to become a mess. I love books though and wouldn’t have if any other way.
I also dislike clutter, but books… not clutter for me. My mom saved a bunch of books I read when I was young and homeschooled as well as other gems like McGuffy Readers, Dick & Jane books, and a bunch of tween Christian books I loved to read growing up. Even classics like Little Women and Secret Garden… it was 6 boxes worth of great books. Plus all the books I am now adding to what ahe gave me.
We have the tallest bookcases from Ikea for storage. They can hold a lot. I read here an idea, not sure who it was, but to use painted paint stir sticks as place markers. It has been working great. The kids put it in when they take out a book, and each decorated their iwn so they exactly where to put their books away. It has helped keep things tidy.
Tell your husband there is a nutty lady on here who has 17,000 books. He’ll hug you for being so conservative. 🙂
Made me laugh too…are you serious? If so how do you even know you have 17,000 books?:-)
Have you read them all? How many kids do you have? Wow !
RobinP has a homeschool lending library that serves many families. That supports her uh-hmm habit. Click her picture to go to her blog. BTW, I want to be her when I grow up.
There is an episode of Hoarders showing a couple’s home where they had been collecting books since 1977. They estimated at least 200,000 books in the home. That is too many books! Setting limits is good. But I think you are doing just fine, 3fallingleaves.
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