Ex Libris
I have just come from what used to be my library, and now is merely the most well-behaved part of my parents' storeroom. There are about 5000 books there, and most of them are fiction. How are they organised?
It's an interesting process. When I was young, my mother made me unshelve all my books, clean the bookshelves, wait for them to dry, apply insecticide, and replace the books. I did that once or twice every year until I got married and moved out. I no longer do this as religiously as I used to (although recent history has allowed me to recant).
I had three methods, working sometimes at cross-purposes. My father (no mean bibliophile, and originator of my habit) taught me to arrange by author, subject, and (for practical reasons) by size and shape. However, he never dictated which should be of top priority. This led to many interesting hours of bibliophilic angst, as whole sections of books had to be rotated and moved around in order to accommodate shifting priorities.
There were times I thought of arranging them by the Dewey system. That way, you don't have to think so hard, except in rare cases of classification deadlock. But I resisted this cowardly way out.
The result: I have more than 5000 books (and my parents own more than that) in that house. They are almost always arranged by author, sometimes by subject, and least of all by size. Generally, my reasoning has followed these lines: most of my books are fiction paperbacks. This means their subject is roughly the same: fictional characters and universes. Best to classify by author, and while paperbacks may be of different sizes, this is not normally a problem. My reference books are either very large (and have to be stuffed in teak bookshelves of sufficient strength) or very small (and sit above what used to be my desk – and sometimes, bed).
I am thinking of giving about 300-500 of them away. Some are very old, very dusty, classics. Some are hard to find or out of print altogether. And they are a large slice of my older life, when I was actually an interesting person. Any takers?
It's an interesting process. When I was young, my mother made me unshelve all my books, clean the bookshelves, wait for them to dry, apply insecticide, and replace the books. I did that once or twice every year until I got married and moved out. I no longer do this as religiously as I used to (although recent history has allowed me to recant).
I had three methods, working sometimes at cross-purposes. My father (no mean bibliophile, and originator of my habit) taught me to arrange by author, subject, and (for practical reasons) by size and shape. However, he never dictated which should be of top priority. This led to many interesting hours of bibliophilic angst, as whole sections of books had to be rotated and moved around in order to accommodate shifting priorities.
There were times I thought of arranging them by the Dewey system. That way, you don't have to think so hard, except in rare cases of classification deadlock. But I resisted this cowardly way out.
The result: I have more than 5000 books (and my parents own more than that) in that house. They are almost always arranged by author, sometimes by subject, and least of all by size. Generally, my reasoning has followed these lines: most of my books are fiction paperbacks. This means their subject is roughly the same: fictional characters and universes. Best to classify by author, and while paperbacks may be of different sizes, this is not normally a problem. My reference books are either very large (and have to be stuffed in teak bookshelves of sufficient strength) or very small (and sit above what used to be my desk – and sometimes, bed).
I am thinking of giving about 300-500 of them away. Some are very old, very dusty, classics. Some are hard to find or out of print altogether. And they are a large slice of my older life, when I was actually an interesting person. Any takers?
etched with acid at 4:51:00 pm
2 Comments:
Amazing. Me two (or maybe more). =)
wow. I wouldn't mind! I need to feed the need to read.
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