March 12, 2007
One Bookshelf Short
That's the story of my life.
I'm always one bookshelf short.
It doesn't matter how many books or shelves I have.
There's always a little more than I can squeeze in. So I'm always squeezing. Books sideways, or in front of each other, or "temporarily" stashed somewhere else.
It makes organizing (not that I'm capable of it, really) very difficult because there's no extra space to shift things into. Except to make piles. I'm pretty good at making piles. Terrible at dealing with them once they're made.
You know those puzzles where you scoot the squares around to unscramble a picture? And there's only one blank square to scoot into? Organizing is like that, for me. Except that instead of one blank square to scoot, I've got one EXTRA tile, and nowhere to scoot.
Posted by Kim at March 12, 2007 6:53 PM*nod* I was straightening bookshelves today too. My solution to the "not enough room" problem was to put the overflow on my bookcase...on top of all the other books there that are waiting for a permanent home.
Possibly I should consider finding new homes for a few of them....nahhh! LOL
Posted by: Rosanne at March 12, 2007 8:53 PMit was so much fun IMing with you. have a wonderful evening and don't have nightmares about the show clean sweep. =P
Posted by: staci at March 12, 2007 8:59 PMAt the risk of stating the obvious...how about getting rid of some STUFF? Pitch half of it, so that you have lots of room to grow. In a year's time, you'll probably fill the shelves again...but it sure is nice while it lasts, and it can even become a habit. Pitching, I mean.
Happy purging! ~Betsy
Posted by: Betsy at March 12, 2007 9:27 PMyep, I'm always one bookshelf short too.
Purging does help.... though it's hard wondering whether THIS VERY BOOK that I'm purging, that none of my other kids liked, might be the one that gets Mac or Bubbie interested in reading, or in art, or in chemistry, or whatever it happens to be about. Still, when I actually purge I haven't actually missed anything.
We built a row of shelves 12" from the top of our "dining room" to hold grownup books - shelves I can't reach without a chair - and having a separate place for grownup books has helped.
Actually the chapter books are in a separate bookshelf from the younger-kids books as well, because it helps keep the chapter books tidy... and we commandeered a cardboard box turned sideways as an extra younger-kids bookshelf.
Once I organized all my kids books by author (preparing to purge) and discovered I had ten duplicates (with different covers/different sizes)-- that made those ten copies easy to purge! Maybe you could get one of your kids to play librarian by alphabetizing?
I need to organize/purge again, though... the stacks of books on the front 3" of the bookshelf are making it hard to look at the books that are IN the bookshelf! It really is a never-ending job. At least I know that moving into a bigger house won't "solve" it for me, as I am always tempted to think. :o/
Posted by: kelly at March 13, 2007 9:29 AMI agree with Betsy. Time to get rid of some books. The thing about bookshelves is that if you don't have a room specifically set up as a library, then you have to crowd out other family living space to make room. (at least I do) I would opt for leaving more family space and getting rid of some books.
Posted by: Shari at March 13, 2007 12:45 PMwhat an accurate picture of organization. Ugh. I wish I was better organized. My husband's solution to the book thing is getting RID of some. ACK!
Posted by: marcia at March 13, 2007 4:06 PMI'm soooo like you!! I really want to be organized but it takes so much time, and frankly, I have other things that I like to do better!!! Besides, don't you just love running across a book that has been hidden for a while and then sitting down a getting reaquainted with it??? I can't think of much that is better than that. (Excepting family time!!!)
Posted by: Theresa at March 13, 2007 5:55 PMDear Kim, This is unrelated to bookshelves, but . . . what does "T'Mahk Too" mean? Thank you!
Posted by: Eowyn at March 13, 2007 6:17 PM
