Of all the things I have to purge... I have the HARDEST time with books. Anyone else? I can't possibly be alone in this can I? I LOVE books, for myself, for my kids... as gifts. Whatever. I even fell for the e-book craze when Kindle first came around. If I can choose between the television at night or a book, I'd pretty much pick a book any night of the week.
So as you can imagine with two children we had quite the collection of books. A trip to the mall, Target, BJs... wherever - SURE you can get a new book. Then it's the book fair at school and book orders and more & more books. Did I mention our kids struggled {hard} with reading in their early elementary years, like no joke. We went all out - tutors, reading clinic, whatever we had to do to get their little minds going. It wasn't until fourth grade for each of them that it truly clicked. {And YES we did our part to read, read & read some more to & with them. The struggle is real sometimes unfortunately and as parents we don't get to decide when their little minds are going to finally get it. Our best advice... be persistent; be supportive; and continue to READ to & with them.}
And suddenly they are no longer little people and you have countless little people books. Sure we have our favorites that we could never part with but we also had our share that were barely read or hand me downs that were merely just fillers on the shelf. What in the world do you do with all the books? Whatever you do.... DO NOT TOSS THEM.
Donate them to your local library or school library
Find an elementary school teacher(s) who may be able to use them
Pass them along to friends/family with young children
Find a local Little Free Library to share your collection with
I have plenty of my own books that were taking up space in our bonus room storage closets, on top of quite the collection my mother-in-law had passed on to me. The topics range from running {my high school/college days}; to James Patterson books {from my early 20s & my love for a good murder mystery}; on to miscarriages & infertility {in my mid-20s}; to pregnancy and raising kiddies; to a wide variety from my MIL... I have books that span the topics but then what do you do with them once those phases of your life pass? Previously when I would look at them I felt as though I couldn't let go of them - each set of books spoke to a different stage in my/our life. As I have come to the realization that those books don't hold true meanings/ties to those times, it's easier to part with them. I am the runner; I am the mother who suffered a miscarriage followed by a brief bout of infertility prior to having our son; I am the mother who raised those babies.... the books may have helped me through those times... but it's the memories and me that still exist today & matter, not the books. Let them go if they are no longer serving a purpose.
My suggestion for adult books:
Friends/family who may want to look through/take them
Donate to local library
Donate to Good Will
Or - depending on the titles... Little Free Library
But those poor digital books... there are so many on my Kindle. All those dollars spent to be able to have instant access to books & to read them, then to have them sit in electronic wasteland. Not so much we can do about that, sadly.
And you can imagine where this is going, to the post that I wrote a couple of weeks back where I talked about "I want my money back." While I love a good book as much as the next person, I am starting to think the price we pay is not necessarily worth it. It's great to have our books, however, how often do we go back & re-read or reference a book that we've purchased? I know I am generally a one & done kinda girl when it comes to reading a book. For someone like me, a library card is the perfect solution - borrow those books, read them & take them back. It's win, win, WIN. Still get to read, no more clutter... and NO MORE PURGING at a later date because we are no longer buying books!
Think before you purchase your next book... do I need this? Or will a visit to my local library suffice to read the book? And remember the savings if you do NOT purchase, as well as no clutter & not having to purge later!!