Saturday, November 17, 2007

Retiring Old Friends

booksAnyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I am an inveterate reader. I have a ton of books on my shelves to prove it. My office shelves are lined with the science fiction novels I read as a teenager. Dear old friends -- some of which I fully intend to visit again.

Then comes the challenge for me.

One of my goals this year is to reorganize my office book shelves. I have numerous business and computer reference books which I would like to have near to hand. That means that at least some of these old friends of my youth will have to go.

Tonight I started paring through them. Oh, the classics will definitely stay. Asimov, Heinlein, maybe even a few of my old Edgar Rice Burroughs adventures. The rest will go into boxes and into storage. As much as I know I should, I just can't bear to get rid of them entirely. A weakness? Perhaps.

But perhaps someday my daughter will open up one of these old boxes and find some new friends for her to meet.

So, do you have a hard time giving up books?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We now have books shelved in six different locations in the house. We really need a dedicated library.

Anonymous said...

Of course keep the reference books that you use on a regular (daily, weekly) basis. Keep the classics that give you fond memories and you will possibly share with your children.

Please consider donating the rest to a local library. Books are meant to be read. The ideas expressed within books are meant to be shared and passed from person to person.

All those wondrous things that you experience when reading a book can be experienced by someone else if only they had the money to buy the book but they don't so they need the library.

Please support your local libraries and give someone a chance to read a book that they otherwise wouldn't.

Take your children to the library as a family experience. Show them the wonders of the written word. Let them explore other worlds and other realities.

Books in boxes can't do that. Please share.

Sandy of Sandy's Stuff for Women said...

We bought our current home in 1975. One side of the living room was an open wall with a wrought iron railing by a staircase. We grew tired of that and in the 80's, we had a bookcase built in.

It quickly filled up. We have literally dozens of other bookcases and they all quickly fill up.

I have the same disease as you, Greg. I have a hard time getting rid of 'old friends.'

There are some that I know I can never part with - but recently, your mom told me she likes to read about pioneer women. I had a book entitled just that! So I gave it to her, even though I never read it.

So I'm comfortable with giving books away as long as I know they'll be read and appreciated.