I was able to free up an extra bookcase in my house by buying some cheap shelves for my dvds (I was holding the camera crooked, it doesn’t actually lean):
I was able to do some shifting around, and I now actually have a few inches of empty space on a couple shelves, and instead of having my unread books arranged in piles on the floor, I now have an unread books shelf!
For a librarian, my personal library is extrememly chaotic. There is no alphabetical order, but somehow the Jim Thompson books all end up lumped together on the same shelf. Non fiction has its own area. Mass market paperbacks are stacked up horizontally. Childrens and young adult books have their own general area, as do books I like to read if I have the flu (Little Women, Hero and the Crown, and I Capture the Castle). Poetry books and graphic novels get their own bookcases. Other than that, anything goes.
How is your home library organized?
Bookshelf #1: books I have read but are rather worn and tattered, loosely grouped together by size and then genre/author
Bookshelf #2: books I have read that are in good condition, grouped similar to #1; top shelf contains books I have not yet read but intend to one of these days
Bookshelf #3: books I have not yet read but intend to soon and then release them (http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/AnnaKY)
Bookshelf #4: this is actually four boxes stacked on their sides to form “shelves” - these are books I’m selling on Amazon.com and Half.com
Thanks to BookCrossing, my collection of old paperbacks and unwanted gift books has diminished. I like books, and I enjoy reading, but I’ve always been a fairly active library user, so my personal collection has never been very significant. Also, since I’ve moved 1-2 times per year on average for the past ten years, I try to keep the volume of books down to a manageable level.
A friend once told me I should put books in my unused cupboards, but I’m still a fan of piles on the floor, arranged by shape.
I’m gonna take a picture (sooner or later) of my video collection. It won’t matter if I take the picture crooked or not, the shelf is indeed leaning. Most of our regular, non-martial art movie DVDs are shelved in a binder, minus the case or cover. We figured we don’t really need the chapter selection list if it’s already on the DVD itself. VHS are shelved wherever there’s space.
We’re in the process of de-clutterizing the apartment, and we’ve donated a lotta books to Goodwill, the library, or just left ‘em in the lobby of the building.
Most of our books are shelved by author, and those are shelved next to one another by genre, so there’s a Koontz, King, Rice, horror novel section. Most of my Star Wars books are shelved in another area, next to anything sci-fi/fantasy related. Non-fiction books are shelved on another shelf, and computer-related books are stacked near the computer. Graphic novels and stuff are on another shelf, and Harlequin romance novels are in a shelf in the bathroom. No, really, they are.
currently in boxes as i await a job.
but usually like this:
spatially according to usage/room of main relevance; then according to size, if they are home improvement or cookbooks so they can fit in my shelves. in the bedroom, stacked simply by reading preference of the moment. ditto bathroom. then for main repository (boy, that sure makes it sound grand, hahaha) by genre/age level. also have several satellite pockets of like works in various places: poetry volumes in a quiet area, inspiring children’s/YA lit in office, that sort of thing. oddly, not nearly as anal about my books at home as i am my music collection. now that’s some anal for ya.
I have three bookcases, and numerous piles….
Mass market paperbacks are stacked 2-3 deep, and on top of each other, so they all take up one shelf.
Non-fiction is still grouped by academic discipline…left over from my college days, so I have sections on Religion, Arabic & Islam, Medieval History, and Modern History.
Graphic Novels, picture books, etc are on the bottom shelves (stability)
Other books are stuffed where they’ll fit.
Hmm, sounds like everyone does some grouping by genre and then by size/format. OK, I’m glad I’m not the only librarian out there to have a less than orderly personal library. At least I know where everything is with my system!
The only reason why libraries need a uniform shelving system is because so many people need to locate the books, and they tend to have large collections (relative to the number of books in my personal collection). As long as you are the only person needing to locate a book, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to organize (or not organize) as you see fit, so long as you know where things are kept.
Mine is in a state of total chaos at the moment, but then I just moved. I’m just glad that they’re on the shelves and out of boxes and laundry baskets. Maybe sometime soon I’ll get the urge to organize them again, but after working all day at the library it’s hard enough to open a book and read, let alone shelf read.
i feel a lot better about the state of mine now, too.
By DDC, of course! Except that fiction and poetry and criticism and single-author collections on unrelated topics get shelved alphabetically by author. And all the recently purchased stuff is usually in a big pile on the floor.
Yeah, I know. I’m hopeless.
oh my. that is either impressive or obsessive. either way, it’s strangely attractive!