Culling the Shelves

I’ve been culling the shelves in my old house this summer.

We’re looking for a new home and the new residents of our current house have moved in–family members.

Our college kids are home for the summer, too, which means we have nine people living in the house.

We’ve got room, sort of, but it’s still a little full.

Fortunately, the three adorable grandchildren have been on vacation with their parents for the last two weeks.

That’s given me time to start packing — we’re half in and half out right now, with most of the boxes full of books.

And that’s where it’s gotten interesting.

How do you decide what to move and what to give away?

I started packing books weeks ago when I came across my grandfather’s teenage math book — the one published in 1907 with a bullet hole in the middle.

It’s the only possession of that ne’er-do-well grandfather I own.

It’s the closest thing to an heirloom from him, and so I was shocked to find it flung on the floor, spine up, under a desk.

Since the adorable one-year-old likes to empty shelves, I knew who the culprit was.

I started packing boxes that night.

Culling the shelves

I don’t know how many we have now, but I do know I have culled the shelves yet again.

I’ve taken two loads to the public library, two loads to church, and have given away several others.

I’m down 150 books from the start of the summer.

That includes blowing the dust off 20 cookbooks–it had been so long since I opened them.

Some were gifts I read and don’t need to consult again. Some were hardcover books I hated, but couldn’t bring myself to throw away.

I finally handed over my Strong’s Concordance.

I donated five Bibles to the public library. Surely, someone will pick one up at the used book sale in October?

If I hadn’t opened a book in years, why hang on to it? Click to Tweet

If I can buy it on Kindle or check it out of the library, do I need to own it anymore?

If it’s out of date, why not throw it away? Click to Tweet

If I’ve always loved it, I kept it.

Some had too many memories to let go.

Oh, and I still have eight hardcover copies of Solzhenitsyn.

I just can’t bring myself to give away literature that I’m not sure would be published again.

My OED went to Leah, a recent college graduate with a degree in English Literature–the one person I knew who would love it.

She does.

Which makes me very happy.

How do you decide what books to keep and which to give away? Click to Tweet