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How to Organize Books

As any bibliophile knows, books can easily take over a home in no time at all. They fill up all the shelves then start consuming tabletops and eventually floor space. Organizing your books makes them more accessible. Choose a system that works well for you and your collection.

Instructions

    • 1

      Devote an entire room to books. Line the walls with shelves and put a table and a few chairs in the center of the room. Separate fiction from non-fiction and shelve them by title.

    • 2

      Shelve fiction alphabetically by author, a system that works well for collectors of classics and those who collect the works of specific writers.

    • 3

      Separate books on the shelves by genre. Group reference works, anthologies, poetry, short stories, history, science fiction and literary fiction.

    • 4

      Create a spreadsheet listing the title and author of each book. Include information like the ISBN, the date purchased or the source, which may come in handy for serious collectors.

    • 5

      Color-code the spread sheet by category. Assign a color for each genre like health and wellness, business titles, cookbooks and humor.

    • 6

      Help keep books organized by editing the collection regularly. Go through and pull titles from the collection. Donate them to charity or to the library's annual book sale. Consider a rule, for every four books that come into the house, one must go.

    • 7

      Be clear of the intention of the book collection: is it to build a reference library, loan books to friends, re-read beloved titles or decorate the house. Make sure the collection reflects the intention.

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