BTT: Weeding

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)

And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?

I recently underwent a major weeding of my bookshelves. With over 1500 books in three rooms, and a bad book buying habit, I from time to time let my shelves get out of control. When it gets so bad my shelves actually make me anxious, I spend a whole day organizing and removing books. This happens about once every six months.

About three weeks ago, I went through this painful process, fondly touching and saying goodbye to about 100 books. I logged all of those books on BookMooch, and over the weeks since, I have mailed out about 40 books to new owners.

This makes me sad. I'm a bibliophile. I love books not just for reading but for their presence, so I tend to horde books. I never use a library, always buying or mooching, and I rarely borrow books from friends and family (partially because no one reads quite as much as I do). I think this is why I go through a whole rip-the-bandaid-off process, weeding out my shelves in one painful day instead of spreading it out on a book to book basis.

For more Booking Through Thursday answers, go here.