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If, like several of my clients, you are an avid reader, you have bookshelves crammed with books and piles of books you have not read. At some point, you find yourself running out of space, but you cannot fit another bookcase in your home. Alternatively, you are planning to move and do not want to pack up or pay for movers to haul dozens of boxes of (heavy) books.
A good practice is an annual edit. Here are some categories of books you can get rid of – and feel comfortable doing so:
- Books you have read and know you will never read again.
- Books others have given you that you know you will never read.
- Books that you might read again, but you can always borrow from the library.
Keep the books you love, even if you do not think you will read them again if seeing them on the shelf gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Still, you may be wondering what to do with the books you do not want. That is easy! Donate them so that they can find new homes. Your local library might accept donations for book sales. Some nonprofits accept books, including Goodwill and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Another option in the Greater Boston area, for example, is an organization that supports at-risk youth; it accepts used books and has donation bins in many towns: https://shop.mtwyouth.org/ . They will even accept books that most local libraries will not, such as textbooks.
I know someone who believes, “He who dies with the most books wins,” but that is only for people who have unlimited space, and that is not me and probably not you!
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