Get Yourself Organized 2013: How to Organize Your Books
Stay with me here. I know that those piles of books seem better left untouched- like they just might lead to more bad than good if messed with. But like all organization projects, it is necessary and freeing once accomplished! For ideas on how to organize your books, check out my Pinterest board.
Cull – this means going through your books and making decisions about what to keep, what to put in other rooms, and what to give away. Use my Three Boxes Two Bag System to sort through your books:
1. Purple Box
These are all the books you want to (need to!) keep. Here is my criteria for what books to keep:
a. They are books I read on a regular basis. (The Bible Baby…)
b. They are books I refer to on a regular basis. (Commentaries, devotionals, etc.)
c. They are books I love reading over and over again. (Bird by Bird, Bitter is the New Black,)
2. Orange Box
These are books that have made their way onto your bookshelf, but need to be in other places in your home:
a. Kid’s books
b. Cookbooks
c. Reference books
3. Green Box
For all the books you want to give away, sell, etc.
4. Bag 1 Garbage
There shouldn’t be too many in here, methinks. Your kid let a Popsicle melt on a book, it’s a child’s book that you can’t recycle because of the binding, etc.
5. Bag 2 Recycling
Again, hopefully few – books that no one would want (How to Raise Great Kids by the mother of O.J. Simpson, things like that.)
Once you’ve got them all sorted, you are ready to put them in their place. For all the books you decide to keep, download and print the name plates provided here and put them on the inside of those books. If you print them out on a full sheet of sticker paper (try these full size Avery labels) you simply cut and stick, or use rubber cement if you use card stock.