Cleaning Alphabet for Indexers: A-B
B is for Bookshelves. Indexers have more books than dust bunnies. Seriously! But, I think it's somewhat of a psychological issue with many. It is with me! They are comforting, old friends that we can visit with on the spur of the moment. They are also major dust and mold collectors.
I've whittled my bookshelves down to the point that, during the past year alone, I've gotten rid of over 25 feet of bookcases and shelves. That's a lot of books. I traded them at the used book store, and then gave to store credit to someone else as a gift--they have children and go up there all the time for children's books.
This is another cleaning project that requires decision making.
First, pull the books off that you know you can part company with. Sometimes, these stay on the shelves simply because we haven't taken time to clean off the shelves. Pull those first. It requires no decision making. Just bagging.
Before you move on, be sure to dispose of the ones you just pulled off. Take them to the charity, used bookstore, or whatever.
Focus on just those books first. Carry step one to it's completion before moving on.
Also, even though you know you can get rid of these books, these books are still "family" you might get hung up on finding the right home for them yourself by calling people, listing them on Half.com or eBay.com. Don't. It takes so much precious time and energy. Let the Universe find your book a new, appreciative home.
For people like us (people who have psychological attachments to books) I don't even recommend Bookcrossing.com. We need to just let it go! Don't track your books to see where they end up. You know, if this book was a person, and you demonstrated that behavior, it would be called stalking. Don't stalk your books. Release them. Forever. And trust the Universe to find them a good home.
Once you make the First Round of Decluttering Your Books, and take it to completion, you're ready to move on to the next phase: Books You Absolutely HAVE to Have in the Event of an Emergency.
Ask yourself, "If I lost all my books in a flood or house fire, would this book be the first book I need to replace?" Rank all your books, perhaps in a 1-bracket, 2-bracket, etc. with all 1-bracket books being books that are indispensable. And so
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