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.
@joshua_becker Most important: deciding to do it. Here's my story: http://t.co/0KB1CmV72u
— heather andrews (@wildsheepchase) November 11, 2013
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..
— Foreign Geek (@ForeignGeek) 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?
R says
You asked your Twitter followers.
You asked on Twitter.
You did not ask Twitter, because Twitter (the noun) is a company.
Johann says
Two words: Interlibrary Loan.
Ryan says
I agree with the post in terms of a personal library. What is particularly challenging for me is I need to maintain a professional library. I have purged and regretted and even had to rebuy. Most of the books I use, or reference works on my shelf, are not available outside a seminary, nor on the kindle. I would be interested to hear Mr. Becker’s thoughts on decluttering professional resources, book or otherwise, especially in light of his pastoral vocation.
Lynn says
I am with you on this as well. Josh, as a pastor, how do you deal with the professional books you have? Between my husband and me, we have quite the library of program books, children’s story (faith) books, counseling books, and biblical reference books, as well as polity and history books for our denomination. We have gotten rid of the duplicates, but our pastoral situation necessitates our books in our home rather than a church office. Thoughts to share?
Maryann Srbljan says
I’m in the same boat. I have a small house on an acearage. (they are scarce and most are more expensive then mine) My books are my “cluther”. I have rare theology books that are not available to me to borry or ready if I did not own them. I have a church vocation and need to study. I also have my professional library in case I have to go back to work. I don’t have alot of furnature, what do I do? Oh yes and real small closets.
Queen Mary says
I don’t think of these books as clutter — do you? Nor do I think of items associated with my hobbies as clutter — is your piano clutter? Your knitting needles? I don’t knit so I got rid of my knitting needles that were given to me by well meaning relatives, but you get the idea. I AM a scrapbooker and the tendency is to hoard things like paper. But I regularly purge. I have law books and I need these for work. This is not clutter.
Nick says
One thing I think may help people get over the mental hurdle of “but what if I ever need that book again!” is to look at the used book markets online. If it isn’t out of print or a first edition, chances are you can buy a used replacement for pennies anytime in the future. Used books are a saturated market where nearly anything can be found for almost no money. So discard at will, and if the day ever comes where you change your mind, you’ll be okay!
Michelle says
My husband and I also read aloud to one another, especially when travelling. We buy most of our books used and really enjoy finding old anthologies. This introduces us to authors we may not know, and we can then check out library books to sample even more authors.
Queen Mary says
Michelle, I confess I find this so romantic!
Janice says
When I got the Kindle, it was the best. It helped me to minimize my book collection yet still own all of them.
After that, it got a bit pricey so latest step? Library. Love it. Borrow it for FREE, read it, then return it. If I really love a book enough to add it to the collection, then I will but that’s it. I’ve limited to max 20 books in my collection.
joshua becker says
Hooray for libraries! I’ve heard your sentiments echoed numerous times throughout the interaction with this post.
Lisa says
For me, the pivotal moment was realizing that getting rid of books doesn’t get rid of the knowledge I gained from them. I accumulated a lot of big, heavy textbooks when I was working on my Master’s, and I felt like I had to keep them to prove what I’d accomplished. Once I realized that I had the Master’s degree regardless and no one was going to audit my bookshelves, it made it a lot easier to get rid of those books. Others followed: the classics, the popular novels of the moment, the books I thought would impress others. I still buy more Kindle books than I should, but I don’t feel so bad about that because I read way more on my Kindle than I ever did in paper books, and 1,000 e-books don’t take up any more space than one.
Teresa Carey says
I read this blog every time it comes in my email in box. I like this post. A minimal library is best. I lost most of my books to a house fire and used that opportunity to start a new tradition. Now I give away every book I read and keep them listed in a life book list. Every book I’ve ever read (since the fire) is in there. Every time I read a book and add it to the list I get to review the list and take a walk down memory lane. It’s wonderful. I wrote a few blog posts about it in more http://www.sailingsimplicity.com/books-part-one-of-a-three-part-series/
joshua becker says
Thanks Teresa. If you haven’t checked out goodreads.com yet, you probably should. As Ken commented earlier, it allows you to do the same things you are doing, but also allows other people (if you set it up that way) to find good books based on your recommendations.
Katie says
Great post! I always feel better about parting with books if I know that I’m helping someone else discover a great book in the process. If you liked them, someone else will, too!
Check out http://www.bookcrossing.com to register your book and send it off into the world. You can keep track of it using the assigned ID number to find out where it went, who read it, and what it is up to now.
http://www.littlefreelibrary.org is a great one, too. You can also donate them to your local library, school, or book club.
The best part about reading is sharing!
Linda Sand says
When I had my allergy testing done my allergist asked me how many books I had. Whoa! Fortunately my church was getting ready to host a book sale so I had a good outlet for those many bookcases of books. I still can’t believe how much my allergies improved when all those books went away.
joshua becker says
Great point… or at least something for allergy-sufferers to consider. Sounds like you’ve got a pretty sharp doctor there.