So yesterday and today I attempted to organize the bookshelves relating to children's books. Only children's books. This is an important distinction in a tiny home with eight official book storing places and countless unofficial ones. Specifically I wanted to set up a bookshelf in the room shared by the 5yo and 3yo, and to purge and straighten the 7yo's bookshelf in his room, and the larger communal bookcase in the hall. Ideally, I would also deal with the bookcase that is used for homeschooling materials, but that didn't end up happening.
So here's what did get done. First I emptied the communal bookcase, which is a standard five shelf arrangement. I pulled out ripped books that had survived previous purges, anything that was not technically a book (there was an unsurprisingly large number of colouring books, activity books, etc. in there), and made note of duplicates. If I have two of the same book it's usually because I like the book, so I can pass on a second copy with a clear conscience.
I did something else this time that I haven't done before, something that made me pause multiple times over the previous bookcase clean-ups. It had actually made me uncertain enough that I consulted friends before I did it. I got rid of books I don't like.
Even in the homes of devoted bibliophiles, of which we most assuredly number, there are the flops. There are the trips to the bookstore where a parent has foolishly promised a two year old that they can choose whatever they like, and what they like are things covered in glitter that come with sheets of stickers. There are the thrift store bargains that turn out to be abridged. There are the gifts that well-meaning loved ones send that, heaven help me, play music.
And there were also books in perfectly good condition, that the children like, even, but that I don't. I don't want to read them. I don't like the illustrations or the moral or what have you, and yet it's so hard to know if I should get rid of it. Some well-known authors and characters I just don't enjoy!
Once I made my piles, I arranged books according to type on the shelves. The top shelf is Lang's coloured fairy books and another series I'm keeping for later years. The second shelf is the board books I decided to keep (I will read the Ahlbergs until my grown children rebel), plus our levelled readers, the fastest growing section these days. Shelf three is softcover story books and also the children's Bibles. Shelf four is chapter books. Shelf five is hard cover story books and treasuries.
Then I moved into the 7yo's room, pulling books from his shelf that belonged in the communal bookcase under the categories I had set up, purging, etc. His top shelf was reserved for books of specific interest to him, like graphic novels, the second shelf is for classics and the third shelf for non-fiction.
In the younger childrens' room I set up a book case with two shelves and the option to add a third in the future. Again I filled it with the books only of interest to them and our current bedtime read alouds.
I ended up with a tottering pile of activity books and laid down the law that there was officially a ban on the purchasing of any activities until these were finished. I also found a book on Celtic history that I'd bought at a library sale months ago and promptly misplaced. And, of course, a big stack of books to dispose of.
And then my husband arrived home full of congratulations on our work, went to the shelf and proceeded to find half a dozen more that neither of us really liked. They sat there by the front door, looking at me, but I refuse to put them back. My goal is to build a library, and a library is like a garden- it needs to be weeded. While, yes, weeds are just one person's idea of what shouldn't be in a garden, they also aren't rare, and they will always return and necessitate another good weeding.
Because of this good 'weeding' I feel pretty confident that every book a child brings me I will want to read, and any time I say "go get a reader to practice with" they will choose from a well-curated list of worthwhile titles.
At least for another few weeks!
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