Organizing a Home Library

Consolidate the Home Book Collection

Jan 21, 2008 Amy Urquhart

Follow these simple steps to creating an attractive and well-organized personal collection of books in any home.

Is your collection of books starting to take over your home? While books provide attractive and interesting detail in any home, if you’re beginning to resent living among the stacks, it is probably time to take control of your collection of books. Follow these simple steps to organizing your home library in an attractive and functional way.

• Gather all of your books from various rooms around the house into one space. Check bedside drawers, kids' rooms, the coffee table, kitchen cupboards and even the bathroom for escaped members of your collection. Although you may decide to move parts of your home library to other parts of the home after they are sorted, bringing them all into one space is the best way to ensure your collection is well managed.
• Sort the books. Begin by separating children's books from adult books, then fiction from non-fiction.
• You may decide that simple keeping children's books separate from adult books is enough, as alphabetizing children's books can be a fruitless undertaking. If this is the case, move your kids' books to a bookcase in their playroom or bedrooms.
• Turning back to the adult books in the house, begin by arranging fictional books alphabetically. If you have literally hundreds of books, begin by piling the books in "rough" alphabetical order, for example, by piling those authored by writers whose names begin with A through E, F through J, and so on, together. Later, go back and refine the alphabetical sorting. If you have more than one book written by the same author, sort first by the author's last name, then by the title.
• Organize non-fiction books by topic, then by author or title. Either method is equally efficient, provided you are consistent, ensuring you will be able to find a specific book when you need it. Alternatively, organize non-fiction books according to the Dewey Decimal System. In short, the categories of the Dewey Decimal System are:
  • 000 Generalities
  • 100 Philosophy & Psychology
  • 200 Religion
  • 300 Social Sciences
  • 400 Language
  • 500 Natural Sciences & Mathematics
  • 600 Technology (Applied Sciences)
  • 700 The Arts
  • 800 Literature & Rhetoric
  • 900 Geography & History
  For a more detailed breakdown of these categories, visit the Online Computer Library Center’s WebDewey.
• Shelve the fictional books by author, then shelve the non-fiction books according to your preferred system. At this time you may decide to place certain portions of your collection in various rooms of your home. For example, cookbooks will be most often accessed if they are placed in your kitchen or dining room.

Create a Personal Library Database

If desired, create a database detailing your collection of books. Librarything is an internet website that allows you to maintain a database of your own book collection, and also enables you to share your collection electronically on a personal website. Librarything also features discussion forums for discussing your favourite books.

GoodReads is another personal library website that allows you to keep track of your personal library and share reviews of books with a list of contacts. You can also send and receive automatic updates from the site, detailing what your friends are reading. Both of these websites are free to join.

A personal library is a possession to be cherished. Organizing your collection and displaying it with pride is a wonderful way to add character and personality to your home.

The copyright of the article Organizing a Home Library in Home Management is owned by Amy Urquhart. Permission to republish Organizing a Home Library in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Organize the Home Library

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