I only keep very special books or ones that I know I'll want to read again. Others, I pass along. We have what I call the Laundry Library -- shelves in the basement of our building where people put books they no longer want. I've also purposely left books on benches in subway stations and airport seats.

When I down sized my household about 15 years ago, I got rid of almost all my books except for my gardening ones, which I use for reference and refer to often. I see no need to keep books just to read. That's what libraries are for :-)

Elizabeth, both my husband and I have grandfathers who were engineer/architects. We have a bunch of their school books and notebooks.

Judidupi, I love the idea of leaving books for people. We have a lot of Tiny Libraries in our town, never a shortage of places to exchange books.

My books are double shelved and stacked on top and on every table and and and....

I used to never mark a book but in my old age I have started occasionally writing comments in the margins or very occasionally writing my opinion in the front. I do this when I am seriously irritated with something in the book or when what ever was written simply wont work.

patriciae

A gazillion! I donate the overflow when it gets beyond management....to hospitals...libraries for their book sales...the Salvation Army and any other charitable organization that can benefit from them. I always keep the rare and treasured editions...as well as currently enjoyed editions. There's no doubt I'm a collector. Fortunately...only books...and I keep my collection organized.

Gardengal, I think of that position often as I dust the books and shelves!

patriciae, I love finding a book where someone has written notes in the margins.

Patriciae, Those must be some interesting notes ;-)

Winter, a gazillion is a lovely number of books. Any advice about organizing the books?

You all can’t possibly have any books at all, becauwe my husband says I have all the books.

He has very few books. He reads, then he never re-reads, so why keep it? He uses the public library a lot.

I love to re-read, and sometimes I just want to look up a passage, so I keep a lot of books.

I have too mqny books I have never read, and probably won’t. It’s hard to give them up! But i have a lot of options, like the library sale and their ”bookshelf” at the beach and trains, and a local bookstore run by and for young adults with developmental differences, as well as senior facilities, and leaving books around!

Every time I say I need a new bookcase, DH says we just need fewer books.

Oh, I also have about 8’ of music books. Musicals, classical, popular, folk, childrens, composer collections, etc. I don’t play most of them, but I am sometimes looking up lyrics and contexts.

Physical books? Probably a dozen and they are cookbooks, and they are ones I enjoy reading, not just ones I refer to for reference, which I rarely if ever do. I have the Two Fat Ladies cookbooks,which I find extremely amusing to read as well as some of their individual works,some Nigella Lawson books and 1 barefoot Contessa book that was a gift. All books just for fun reading or whatever I have in my kindle library because its just easier. Before I had my kindle I found the books piling up around the house to be irritating. But I did not get rid of them because I often reread books. Once I got my kindle and bought some of my favorites it was a big relief to pack up loads and loads f books and donate them to the library and clear them out of the way.

I used to have quite a collection, but as they harbor dust and I am seriously allergic, I decided to divest myself of most many years ago. I do have a large collection of children's books (preschool teacher) and those are kept in a glass fronted bookcase along with the few adult books (mostly non-fiction) that I have kept or collected.

I have always had an aversion to writing in books. Even my college and grad school books were pristine.

I gave away most of my books years ago, but I still have more than the average person. I only kept non-fiction books that I would use for reference. I need to donate more as I haven't looked at many of them in years.

Winter, my answer off the top of my head was a gazillion, also. And I do cull them from time to time! Some I just can’t part with, some I haven’t read yet (and perhaps will never get to them)…Houzz only lets me post four photos, so here are but four of the seven photos of bookshelves I just snapped for this post.

We have around 3,000 hard bound books. We collect various authors and they have been read by one of both of us. No marking, page bending or other demarcation. They are organized by author and publication date, to the extent they fit in the current shelving. We also catalog them using a software program. Helps when trying to fill in the collection. I use Libib to track my cookbooks (currently 132) and some books I personally collect so I don't have to rely on the software if I'm out looking on my own.

We could get rid of some but haven't.

China, there are two copies of NeuroTribes on your shelves. Did you write or contribute to the book? It caught my eye because the subject fascinates me. Lovely shelves. The combination of photographs and books is perfection- a visual autobiography of sorts.

Dees, that is an impressive amount of organization and thought you put into your library. I am much more haphazard. One day I will put some thought into how best to organize my collection, but since I buy most anything that interests me and my interests are wildly eclectic, I have a hard tome imagining what to do.

Between 30 and 40. Most of those will be taken to Half Books to be sold and then I'll bring home a few more after I read the pile I have.

Zalco....I always hesitate to give advice...but here's a map of some of my gazillions. I have bookcases or dedicated shelf space in every room. The larger the room...the more dedicated space. I put small sized books in my bathrooms on corner shelves that I constructed for this very purpose. I've had open shelving built over some doorways. It sounds like I'm buried in books but they're actually quite neat and orderly. I keep old, collectible editions in enclosed [furniture] space to protect them. I have shelving in my kitchen/family room for my cookbook collection and other notable current reading material. If there was an empty space that wouldn't interfere with the intended use of the room...I added shelving.

I, also, have an art collection involving a few mediums...and where I could, I melded the two together....adding shelving around hanging art work, etc. They get along quite nicely and in my years of widowhood...give me a warm, cozy feeling.

I have too many to count, and they are in several different rooms. Most are in English, but I do have a fair number that are in German plus several that are in Italian, French, and Spanish, and I have dictionaries to help me with those, if necessary. I also have a Russian dictionary but no books in Russian. When I read Russian folk tales online, I have to use the dictionary a lot.

I have two shelves of cookbooks, and I do use these, especially for certain ethnic dishes.

In the living room we mostly have art books and I have a lot of design books as well. I have also kept a lot of Italian design magazines.

I do need to get rid of a few books.

I do not want to rely on libraries for the books I want to read - I have nightmares about forgetting to return library books. I did use the library a lot when I lived in San Francisco, but at one time, I was just three blocks from the main library, and so it was an easy walk.

I think around 2,000. Most are fiction, and they're arranged alphabetically by author and then date of publication, like dees. I also have a fair amount of history, which is in a different room and arranged by country/time period, as well as art history and theology.

Another room has a small bookcase with poetry, philosophy, science, travel, and essays, just a few titles in each category. Another has books on NYC, movies, music, and theater. And then there are about 150 rare books.

By organizing them this way it's very easy to find what I'm looking for, and I also keep a spreadsheet of the rare books with their bibliographic info, what I paid, etc., useful for both avoiding duplicates when shopping and for insurance purposes.

Zalco, I have two copies because the author, Steve Silberman, is a dear friend of mine from our Deadhead days. One copy was my son’s, I think. Neurotribes is a fascinating read; I recommend it, and not just because of Steve! Also, if you look hard, you might notice two copies of “No Fault Parenting” in the left hand bookcase, that one was written long ago by my dad, a child psychiatrist. In my four photos above, I didn’t show my cookbook bookcase, nor my “old travel books that I want to keep- France, Italy, NYC, Kauai, etc” books that were recently relegated to a cabinet. Yay books, physical books!!

Winter, your house sounds incredibly lovely. Some people have a relationship with their books, with the person they were when they were reading them and with the author. Being surrounded by those memories and ideas makes for a very warm and happy environment.

Thank you so much for sharing some of the ways you have managed your collection.

Lars, I once had an epic library fine. I can understand getting nervous about forgetting a borrowed book. There was a story about a man returning a book to his university's library something like 70 years late.

China, I did notice No Fault Parenting, but only one copy ;-) I cannot begin to imagine all the ways it must be amazing to read your parent's professional work on a topic as intimate to yourself as how you were brought up and how that will/did affect your own parenting. Wow!

I will see about the Neurotribes book, thank you.

Bookwoman, I imagine you have some gorgeous books. I must never be allowed to begin collecting old books.

Easily a hundred if i include cookbooks and travel books. I can walk to my library and love browsing around there so thats where i get most of my books. Sometimes there is a waiting list for my book club books, so then I buy a copy and pass it along to someone else unless I especially loved it. Honestly Honestly, it can be hard to get rid of ordinary books. Maybe I can glue them to the ceiling.

Bpath, did you take art history with Comini? If so have you ever been to her and Prof. Tufts's house? I was amazed that place was able to stand under the load of the books lining each and evey wall, including upstairs, floor to ceiling and around the door jambs.

Our libraries here no longer charge overdue fines, only if you lost the book. When they did charge fines it was never more than the cost of replacement of the book.

I have been thinking about whether or not my count is accurate. Obviously I have not counted the books one by one, but I keep everything, including the Dover Dollar Classics I bought in the 90s when I first moved to DC and was not being paid while my visa issues were being worked out. Plus I have more than one house, and I do still count my children's books as mine, though I imagine they will take their books when they move out on their own, and of course I have my parents's collection.

My reading has been mostly audiobooks for decades. The few books purchased in recent years are ones I got at book signings. What I have probably should be donated, I don’t need or want to keep them.

When they did charge fines it was never more than the cost of replacement of the book.

I the early 1980s in Dallas, Texas, I was charged many times more than the cost of replacing the book. My parents were livid with my irresponsibility.

I do still count my children's books as mine, though I imagine they will take their books when they move out on their own,

Good luck with that. :-) Our daughter moved out for good after college - she graduated in 2010 - and while she has taken some of her (many, many) volumes, there are still boxes of them stored with us.

Beside cookbooks I use, I only have a handful that I keep. A few children's books from when I was little, a civil war military book on maneuvers, and a old cookbook/general housekeeping book from when they used wood stoves and slept on corn husk or down mattresses. I don't really have time to read. When I do the book goes to the lending library when I'm done.

I thought I had a lot but after seeing some of the posts here I have decided I don't really have a lot. I have culled quite a few in the past several years. This is my library.

Lovely bookcases, Rose. And a beautiful family picture too!

Not as many as I used to have. I lost many in the flood following Hurricane Harvey. Maybe a couple of hundred still.

I even have a room in my house devoted to housing the books. We have gone to the library every week for 50 years and always have three or more books each to read. But once I read a fiction book, I don't want to own it. Many years ago when husband retired from the state government, he worked part-time at Book of the Month and was able to purchase three books every working day for 25 cents no matter what the price. Plus this same company had a community day where others could buy cheaply. All the books we have are gardening, antique, architecture, and history books...no fiction at all. I don't re -read fiction books.

I have hundreds of books and I really have to get more enthused about donating some of them. I don't remember all the titles that I have, and it is a treat to browse the shelves and find a long-forgotten "new" book to read. I also use the library and will donate some of my books to them when they start accepting them again. They had suspended accepting donations when Covid caused a slow down in library service, including lessening of staff.

I adore really good photography. So....cookbooks with gorgeous photos, Coffee table books of birds or landscapes. Then, I kept a lot of my college text books. I felt like I had a relationship with them...all the study time I put into them. 😁

Here are a few titles...

Too many to count!

A lot, a few bookcases full. But not really so much, a small library room worth. Some I keep and re-read, some I've picked up and haven't gotten around to reading yet.

I sometimes pick up books. The local library has a selling basement. I sometimes cull out my collection. Around here not sure where to donate to anymore, seems like everyone is full up on used and don't want more.

I still deeply regret giving up my old hard cover Trixie Belden books. It took me months of picking them up as I found them at a used bookstore on the way home from school. First hubby made me pitch over half my books to move in with him, and that was a mistake to let go of. I cherish and love the books that went to my sister way back when that she dumped on me a few years back when she needed to clear out her collection.

My collection spans a lot of things. Field guides, cookbooks, first aid and medicine, how things work, a couple encylopedia sets, history sets. Fantasy and fiction, mythology and religious texts. Loretripping and science. How to craft things and pattern books, alchemy and chemistry, anime and childrens tales and fables, bodice rippers and true crime horror. Law and reason, classical and translated oddities.

I have devoured books most of my life. Have had an era of having so liitle joy in life not even books could be.... well. To joy again. Even brave enough to write in the cookbook margins like grandma did.

I have 1 hard cover book but 3000 + on a flash drive for my kindles.

Lily, I have maybe 5 or 6 fiction books. I only read non fiction and almost every one of my books are about one of my interests...cooking, waterlilies, roses, gardening in general, wildlife rehab, animals.

I have a couple hundred books of my own. Most are non-fiction on subjects that have interested me over the years: gardening, nature, history, religion, old-time ways, memoirs. They're grouped roughly by subject. I buy fiction if it's a story I want to read again and again ... like PG Wodehouse for the laughter, Maude Hart Lovelace for the sentiment, etc. I culled my books when we downsized to this home. I know I'll have to cull again when we move to the retirement community -- but that's not for ten or so years.

I also read a lot of books from the library and on my kindle.

Oh, and I have about two boxes of children's books from both my DH's childhood and from when our own DD was little. I'll hang onto them a few more years. If we get any little kids in our/extended family it would be a fun gift to them.

Thanks to everyone for posting pics of their books. I'm a secret book voyeur! As for me, I think I probably have a few hundred. I like keeping my hard covers, mostly non fiction, biographies, design books. I tend to read fiction paperbacks and give them away after. I do have A LOT of magazines! I keep all my subscription design magazines, AD, Luxe, World of Interiors, Elle Decor, etc. and my Vanity Fair, New Yorker. The only reason I save VF and NY is for articles I haven't had time to read. A few years ago I went through some old design mags, thumbed through the bent pages, and had to really wonder about my taste. I tossed a lot out. When I go to open houses I loved to look at peoples books, and ......... their closets! I then go home and try to organize mine. Color coordinated closets are my favorite.

Probably about 4,000 or so. We have multiple full bookcases in every room except the laundry/toilet and bathroom, with an additional wall of built in bookshelves in the living room and built ins down either side of our very long hallway. The top shelf of the hall shelves on either side has books laid down and stacked up 6-8 high.

About twenty years ago we had a cull of duplicates (when DH and I married we merged our collections and we have similar tastes) and books we'd ever want to read again and that resulted in about 500 books being sold or donated but since then they've been replaced many times over.

Books are a popular gift in our house :-) and I belong to a book club which purchases its books so there are always more coming in.

Many many years ago my unhandy husband built a bookcase to house the kids' books and I still have it in my daughter's old bedroom. It contains all their childhood books(I used to buy them a Golden Book for 25 cents every time I went to the grocery store), all my Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, and Uncle Wiggily books. All my husband's Hardy boy books are there too. Those books are so innocent compared to some today. I also have many really really old books going way back to the early /mid-1800s that I got over the years at auctions.

I was buried in books. Then I got rid of most of my books. Now I only have a few recipe books, books on birds, jewelry making and a few gardening books. I decided I didn't want to spend my time sitting and reading. What I wanted to do was be more active and that's what I am being. I do read the books I own although they are a fun part of decor for me as well.

I am in Austin, and while I have plenty of books here, nothing very pretty, though one of my son's has a Zoom set up with a book case which is nice enough. Here is a picture of Elton John at one of his houses, his are all nice ;-) I just fell a little more in love with him after seeing this.

I prefer to donate books to a shop connected to a local library, as they do pile up. I've been trying to use the library more often and used it regularly the last two years.