Clearing the Bookshelf

Back in November, I wrote about clearing out my bookshelf and putting some of my books into storage. It was about time to get things organized and make room for more of my business and technical library.

Then my blogging friend, Jacki Hollywood Brown (a professional organization expert), pointed out that books do no one any good in storage. No one reads them. They take up space. In general, unless you are planning to pull them out at a specific later date and read them (for example, when I finish building my home library) there really was no reason to keep them and every reason to give them to someone who will value and appreciate them.

So, properly chastened, I set to the task at hand. Of course, I kept my old favorites (Heinlein, Foster, Burroughs, etc), but I actually found that about half of the books, while entertaining when I read them, really didn't have the nostalgic hold on me that I originally thought. In the end, I cleared off about half of my shelves and boxed them up to go to the Ann Arbor District Library.

I found out how and where to donate the old paperbacks (and even that my collection of old science fiction was on the list of desirable books) at the Friends of the AADL site. I was expecting it to be a bit complicated, but was pleasantly surprised. Basically I just had to:

1. Drive the books down to the downtown branch during library hours. They even let you park in the staff lot to make the drop off.
2. Buzz the intercom.
3. Unload the boxes of books onto a hand truck.
4. Get a receipt.

Done!

It felt good to know that those books will be getting another read or two and it felt really good to have some space cleared on my bookshelf.

So, do you have any books that you haven't read in a while that could go to a welcoming home?