Recently, my wife and I presented at a Simplicity/Decluttering Workshop. We were excited to have 100+ people from every stage of life show up for our 90-minute conversation. It was wonderful in every regard. Special thanks to Journey Church in Gretna, NE for being our hosts. If you are interested in doing the same, you can find more information here.
As part of the workshop, Kim and I wanted to offer practical help in common problem areas (clothes, sentimental items, kids’ stuff, and books). And as part of the preparation, I asked Twitter for some help in addressing the specific topic of decluttering books.
I asked a simple question, “Have you significantly decluttered your book collection? If so, what was the most important step or decision you made in the process?”
Responses began flooding in almost immediately (they are, after all, a pretty sharp crew). The answers I received were experienced, helpful, and taken as a whole, quite comprehensive. In fact, the responses were so good, I decided to organize them and pass them on to a larger audience.
So then, if your book collection has become too cluttered, you’ll find help here. If you ever feel burdened by your books, you’ll find inspiration. Or if you are just looking to create some extra space in your home or office, you’ll find plenty of practical steps here to help you unclutter your book collection and finding more space in your home and life.
12 Helpful, Practical Steps to Decluttering Books
1. Decide to do it.
After all, just like everything else, it always starts with the decision to get started.
https://twitter.com/wildsheepchase/status/399694333240020992
2. Realize books do not define you.
Books add value. They contribute to who you are. But they do not define who you are.
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@joshua_becker also accepting that the books on my shelf (or lack of) don’t define me as a person.
— Hannah (@becomewhour) November 10, 2013
class=”twitter-tweet”>@joshua_becker Realizing my book collection did not define me as a person. Also admitting I was prob. not going to read most of them again.
— MicheleStitches (@MicheleStitches) November 10, 2013
3. Remove scarcity thinking.
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@joshua_becker letting go of the “what if I need this in the future?” scarcity mindset– i.e. self-trust! Over 200 books sold/gone so far.
— Hannah (@becomewhour) November 10, 2013
4. Determine to make room for the new.
An optimistic point of view is advantageous in every endeavor.
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@joshua_becker Removing books I’ve already read, makes room for books I have yet to read!
— Brian Knoblauch (@GLMotorSports) November 11, 2013
class=”twitter-tweet”>@joshua_becker My goal is to keep reading and learning, so I would usually choose new books anyway. — Jessica S. (@jessicaschreyer) November 11, 2013
5. Go digital.
The free Amazon Kindle App is available for almost every electronic device. There is no need to own an actual Kindle to use it.
Switching to kindle RT @joshua_becker: Have you significantly reduced/… your book collection? If so, what was the most important step..
— Kal (@KultureKween) November 12, 2013
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@joshua_becker Anything available on Kindle went. I only kept OOP or coffee table books.— Tina Lender (@TinaLender) November 10, 2013
6. Give yourself permission to keep your favorites.
Less is different than none. Identify your favorite books and keep them close. Find freedom in knowing all decisions are coming from you and nobody is forcing them on you.
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@joshua_becker went from ~400 to 80 or so. Picked absolute favs to keep 1st. Let go of anything I owned for at least a year but never read.
— Adam Bouse (@adambouse) November 11, 2013
7. Set up reasonable boundaries for your collection.
Boundaries help us quickly delineate the “most important” from the “somewhat important.” They are helpful in countless other pursuits—use them to your advantage. Choose one and give it a try. You can always adjust later.
class=”twitter-tweet”> @joshua_becker I read a lot – iPad and hard copy – but keep very few. I have one bookcase and give away the rest. pic.twitter.com/8qs0ylhSPY — Sarah Labelle (@labelle_sarah) November 10, 2013
8. Remove unused or outdated reference books.
While the Internet may never entirely replace reference books for your line of work or personal preference, it can almost certainly prove to be an efficient replacement for many of your reference books (starting with a dictionary and thesaurus).
class=”twitter-tweet”> @joshua_becker (1) Will I read this again? (2) If it’s a reference book, do I actually use it or just go online? — Christy King (@SimpleWhiteRab) November 10, 2013
class=”twitter-tweet” data-conversation=”none” lang=”en”>@joshua_becker I ask how often I reference each book, how much info it contains, and if the book/info is available at the library/online. — Roman (@RomanAngeloS) November 12, 2013
class=”twitter-tweet”> @joshua_becker just 2 shelves left. My deciding factor: had I re-read/referred back in the last year or thought I would in the year to come — Thaddaeus Moody (@Thaddaeus_Moody) November 11, 2013
9. Remind yourself books are not the memory.
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@joshua_becker Deciding to give away all the novels I read. “The book itself is not the memory.”— Ezzentie (@Ezzentie) November 11, 2013
10. Give away books you do not intend to read again.
This step was, by far, the most common response to the question.
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@joshua_becker yes. 1) made list of books to give away. 2) posted list on FB & Twitter. 3) Gave them away.
— Andrew Tatum (@andrewtatum) November 10, 2013
class=”twitter-tweet”>@joshua_becker I had to make peace with the idea that I don’t really read books more than once anymore. After that it was easy to pare down.
— Adie Lashley (@adielashley) November 10, 2013
11. Think of forwarding good books as an act of love.
I really do love this mindset and hope people find it helpful.
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@joshua_becker Keeping a book that I didn’t cherish or regularly pick up & re-read meant I was keeping it from someone else. Share the love!
— Maggie Olson (@maggiebolson) November 11, 2013
12. If all else fails, choose to lend them out.
A proper bookkeeping system will be helpful if you are ever in the need to find the book again.
class=”twitter-tweet”>@joshua_becker I read it, then I lend or give it away.
— Rodrigo Afonseca (@rodrigoafonseca) November 11, 2013
For further reading, I recommend Breaking The Sentimental Attachment To Books.
And in closing, are there any important steps or decisions you would like to add that others might find helpful when decluttering their book collection?
I loved this post! The practical steps you provided make decluttering feel manageable, especially the tip about setting a timer. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed with all the books we accumulate. I’m definitely going to try the “keep, donate, or sell” method this weekend. Thanks for the inspiration!
I loved this post! The step-by-step approach to decluttering books is really helpful. I especially appreciated the tip about setting a timer – it makes the process feel less overwhelming. Excited to start my own decluttering journey with these practical steps!
This post is exactly what I needed! I have been overwhelmed by my book collection for years. The step-by-step approach makes it seem so manageable. I especially love the tip about creating a “maybe” pile—I’ve never thought about that before. Thanks for the practical advice!
Your tips are so useful. I especially liked ‘your books contribute to who you are; they don’t define you.’
I also appreciated Jan’s comment about becoming invisible as you age and keeping books to remind you of who you were once. Much better to pass them on and trust that others will grow and derive value from reading them.
I am old and due to mobility issues my world has shrunk a lot. I’m decluttering as much as I can. Due to becoming invisible as you age I find I’ve kept a lot of books to remind me that once I was regarded as intelligent and being someone worth listening to !
How foolish of me ! Today I’m donating all my beautiful Greek classics and my Russian literature collection. Hopefully someone will be thrilled to find them and will get as much joy from them in the future as I have in the past.
As a writer, I am sometimes concerned about relying on the internet for dictionary or thesaurus functions – because meanings are always changing, and it’s too easy to update the electronic source without keeping track of changes over time. As a Gen-Xer, the word “awesome” is a perfect example. Prior to the early ‘80s, this word was used only in the sense of: “the awesome power of water to carve the landscape.”
During the 80s, it was a very hip colloquialism that kids used to differentiate themselves from adults. Now, that meaning of it is fairly standard.
But one can’t write a story set in the 70’s with the modern usage of “awesome.” You’d probably use “groovy” or “far out.”
So, I guess I don’t entirely dismiss the value of holding on to outdated reference books.
Lost count of all the books I’ve donated in more than a year. From five bookcases, I’m down to one. Still planning on getting rid of some from the remaining ones, though. Have gone back to e-books as sub for some books I gave away. Reasons: (1) Less stress in keeping a humongous collection, and, most importantly, (2) LESS TERMITES =). It wasn’t easy letting go at first but you’ll find it addictive along the way, eventually.
I like that you mentioned that forwarding books is a good way to get rid of olds ones. I plan to buy a Christian fantasy children’s book for my son in order to jump start his faith development at a young age. Once he grows up, I’d like his books to still be useful for other kids.
The books I keep in p-form must be ornamental as well as useful or entertaining and be those I read once a year. I decided to keep five of my overflowing stacks. The Holy Bible NIV in leather binding, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson, Sarah Orne Jewett: an anthology, and Gift from the Sea.
If I want more there’s always the library. And I have over 300 on my Kindle PC.
I’ve just finished culling the smallest one of my 5 bookcases- One I hadn’t read for ages, but loved and WILL read again – ‘A Gift from the Sea’ Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
I have (temporarily) kept SOME of the books to give to a book fair in a year, if I still have not read or re-read them.
2 cartons are all ready to send off to the next book fair.
I am in New Zealand and my local library wheels a bookcase outside everyday- with free books they no longer want! The librarian was outside scanning library users Covid passes when I headed over to this trove of books the other day.- He laughed when he overheard me say: ‘ NO Joanna you are NOT looking at books!” I need to talk sternly to myself.
I can’t believe I’ve done it. I went through ALL of our reading material, including our homeschool stuff, and picked out half of it to sell. We are keeping less than 300 items, but getting rid of 350! With four kids homeschool age from 4 to 17 years old, it is a little worrisome to me. We will have to repurchase some, or borrow them, but keeping them for years and years waiting to reuse them makes no sense when we have yet another move across country to make in the coming year. I felt like I was only keeping the books I really liked or would need all these years homeschooling, and to find out I still had 650 was shocking. When I say I kept 300, that still sounds way to high. We’ll see.
I had a big book collection, spent two years rearranging it, gave out most to friends, sold some to book shops, sometimes just walked around the street and gave the books to strangers (some people may refuse to take my books, but most were happy about the new gifts).
Now, I had less than 5 books of mine on my shelf, I simply borrowed other books from libraries or bought them on Kindle.
being minimalist is not the same as being godfearing. Some of us are happy to have lots of books. I love my shelves full of books.Even the ones I’ve read and might read again. Ones which are out of date, but interesting. Ones I plan to recommend to people and maybe even lend them a copy. Cookery books with recipes I’ve never used. And by lining the outside walls of the house with bookshelves, I have added insulation. To live my life devoid of anything which is immediately useful or functional, is a life devoid of life itself! You can keep your minimalistic home, painted in pastel shades with only basic items. I like my home to be full of mementoes, things which are important to me, which give me pleasure to own and look at. I love my bright colours and patterned wallpapers. My home tells people about ME. And, minimalistic homes, devoid of all but the basics, show a human devoid of emotions.Minimalism was a style invented by someone with a personality disorder, for, people with a personality disorded.
Minimalism doesn’t imply that it’s bad to have any books; just not so many to the point it defines you and makes an area seem cluttered. Everyone has their own opinions and tastes (I’m neither of the following), but it sounds like the extreme opposite of minimalism is materialism.
All good ideas that I will forward to my other half as we look to downsize a bit more. Number 11 really resonated with me. When we had to sell our home a few years ago and move to a townhome, there were a lot of choices to be made. For me, it was the piano. This mindset helped me.
Little Free Libraries are a great option too (lots of info online about them). We made a community event and had ten families say they wanted these Little Free Libraries in their yard, all in our neighborhood. So we have our own library system of all our favorite books-kids and adults alike. Freely take and freely give any books
This is a great list. I’m a compulsive reader and read hundreds of books each year. I actually get anxious if I finish a book and don’t have another book ready. When that happened, I would grab a book that I had already read, just to have something to read until I got a new book.
I decluttered my book collection with three main steps:
-Started using my library. This was intended to reduce clutter and cut my book spending.
-Gave away all but my absolute favorite books.
-Got a kindle. The kindle eliminated my “I don’t have a book to read” anxiety, because I can keep a bunch of books queued up and ready to read. It also helped me get rid of even more physical books, because I own them digitally. Bonus: my library has a kindle book collection.
I still have a bookshelf full of books. I intend to slowly eliminate most of them, saving my favorite gardening reference books, my favorite fiction novels, and my favorite cartoon collections (like Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes). The rest, including my embarrassingly large collection of decluttering books, can go.
We had a LOT of used Bibles and Christian literature and couldnt bring ourselves to throw (especially Bibles) away. I found an organization called Love Packages in southern Illinois) that ships the books overseas where they are scarce and so greatly needed.
Why are they so greatly needed? Surely reading material would be the priority. Sorry — but this smacks of colonial missionary work.
Because they are scarce? Like she said. There are a lot of people in living in poverty who actually want these items. And many of them are in other countries. In my life, the Bible has been a lifesaver, and while you may not consider it a need, there are many who do. I’m okay with throwing lifesavers to people who want or need them. That is not a judgment of them. I doubt she is doing it to colonize a foreign country. Missionary work doesn’t mean colonizing and isn’t evil. You may not want to know that God loves you, but many do. It is okay to share.
I get books from the library before buying them. It saves money and space. If I buy a book, I tend to either donate it or give it to a friend when I am done with it.
I’m transitioning to a minimalist lifestyle, and I saw the title of this article and hurt a little inside. To me, my life IS defined by my books. I don’t buy all the books I read (thank you local library), only the ones I rate 8 or above on a scale of 1-10, but even that’s well over 200. Reflecting on this, there are only two things that I collect and will refuse to be rid of, and that is sheet music and books. I could wax poetic about it, but I keep books not only for myself, but for my friends and family, and for my children especially. Fortunately, I recognize my passion for books and plan accordingly; I have built-in bookshelves all over my house, so books don’t become clutter. I was wondering if I’d ever transition to full minimalist, and this post convinced me that while I may incorporate a lot of minimalism, I’m not going to be able to be completely minimalist, if book purging is required.
I give all our books (and dvd’s) in great shape that we no longer read (or watch) to our local library. If one of us does get the desire to read a book again, we just check it out from the library.
I love this post, Joshua! That’s one of the greatest hurdle of ours, how to get rid (or at least minimize) our book collection! Lately, I’ve been keeping our book collection at bay by having this rule: non-fiction books will only be bought from Kindle and fiction books will still be bought paperback. Non-fiction/reference books are easier to refer to in Kindle because of the search function and it’s easier to take down notes there.
I still opted to buy paperback novels because nothing beats the sensation of flipping the pages of a book in anticipation of what happens next in the plot! I just make it a point to lend or give it to a friend after I’m finished with it :)
But I really have to deal with our collection someday and thanks for the tips!
I think one of the best ways to deal with book clutter is starting a book-sharing club or a book-sharing library where you live. In my building, we started a book-sharing library with about 100 books. Pretty simple…bring a book, swap it for one in the library. Come back and do it again. That way you always have new reading but fewer books.
I LOVE my Kindle. Not only am I able to keep thousands of books on one small device, one of my favorite features is the highlights. In my physical-copy books, I sometimes make highlights and dog-ears but that isn’t a very efficient way of tracking quotes or passages that I like. Kindle makes it really easy to highlight and then search for particular words on my Kindle profile. It’s beautiful. Also, you can easily rent books from the library which I think is fabulous. No late fees, no walking to the library. It’s instantaneous. I never buy physical books anymore.
I really dislike having books, but I do keep some for reference. One thing that keeps my collection small is getting most books at the library in the first place. When you have to return them, you do!
If I really want to read a book and it is not at the library (many books that I want to read professionally fall into this category) I will buy a used copy on amazon or abebooks. If it’s not a book I will reference for work I get rid of it.
One thing to keep in mind: Ask your library if they will use the book before donating! My mom works at a library where they will often THROW AWAY books if they only have one copy and don’t have it in their system, because it’s too much work to put a new book into their system. This is really sad to me because of the amount of books I can’t find in my library systems. I would think if they didn’t have it yet that would be all the more reason to use them, but that’s not how it works.
In our city, we have used book stores. You can donate books to these. Also some organizations ( symphony) have regular book and music sales. I have regular chances to donate my books and my music scores, etc. to the symphony for their regular fund raiser sales.
I am amazed by the passion for getting rid of books! Especially from writers! They don’t have to take up a ton of space or cost much, and they can bring hours of delight as well as enlightenment, some of them can also be used as wall art, and in case of disaster they can be burnt to provide heat, what is not to love? I can think of few things I would LESS want to eliminate from my life or home, regardless of my minimalist leanings. If minimalism is not about deprivation, then purging books makes no sense in my life. (Except, of course, those I do not want to reread or refer to during projects, but it doesn’t take much genius to know those should go.)
Kat
I agree. I have so many books and think that they will be the last thing I would ever part with. I actually read many of them each year. There are so many other things that I can part with. I also don’t like the idea of relying solely on electronic storage of books. Maybe I read 1984 one too many times.