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Today, Victoria shares some practical tips to help you declutter your bookshelves and organize your books.  So if you feel overwhelmed by the amount of clutter on your bookshelves, if your bookshelves are overflowing, if you have stacks of books all over the floor, if there is no room for new books, if you can’t find books you’re looking for, you have a lot of books but feel like you have nothing to read, or you think it’s time to declutter your bookshelves, I think you will find this episode helpful.

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE:

• How to declutter your bookshelves.
• How to sort your books.
• How to decide what books to keep and what to let go.
• Questions you need to ask yourself.
• Deciding what to do with the books you’re not going to keep.
• How to organize your bookshelves.

How to Declutter Your Bookshelves and Organize Your Books

1.  TO DECLUTTER YOUR BOOKSHELVES, YOU NEED TO TAKE ALL YOUR BOOKS OFF YOUR SHELVES AND LAY THEM ON THE FLOOR.

Taking the books off your shelves will give you a good idea of how many books you have and their condition.  It might also inspire you to read some of those books collecting dust for years.

2.  SORTING YOUR BOOKS

Once you know how many books you own and you’ve started to think about which ones you want to keep, the next step is sorting your books.  First, start sorting them into categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc.  You can also group them by genre or author.  Also, separate those books that have sentimental value or are collectibles — these books will not be on the chopping block.

3.  NOW IT’S TIME TO PURGE YOUR BOOK COLLECTION!

Start with the category or genres you are least attached to or don’t read as often.  For example, if I don’t read a lot of nonfiction, I would start by getting rid of those books.

4.  WHEN DECIDING WHAT BOOKS TO KEEP AND LET GO OF, ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:

• Have I read this book?  If you haven’t read it in over two to three years, chances are you’re not going to.
• Do I love this book?  If you don’t love it, why keep it?
• Am I likely to reread this book?  If the answer is no, then get rid of it!

5.  TO DONATE OR RECYCLE?

Books in good condition but you don’t plan on keeping can be donated to your local library or secondhand bookstore.  Books that are damaged or moldy should be thrown out or recycled.

6.  ORGANIZING YOUR BOOKS

So now that we have gone through how to purge your book collection and bookshelves, let’s talk about organizing.  Once you’ve decided on the books you plan to keep, here are five popular ways you can organize your books:

• Organize books by color
• Organize books by authors’ last names
• Organize books by genres/subject matter
• Organize books by subcategories within each genre or subject matter etc.
• Organize books by read and unread.

Organizing your book collection does not need to be complicated or time-consuming – it can be really fun.  There are so many possibilities, so there isn’t one right way!

For more information on book organization, check out our “10 Ways To Organize Your Book Collection” article.