How I’ve Been Downsizing My Book Collection
In my last post, I shared that I’m downsizing my book collection this year. A far cry from last year where all I ever seemed to be doing was building it up. Like I said though I’ve already gotten rid of several boxes of books and thought I’d share what this process looks like for me, and maybe you’ll find some things that will help you if you’re also trying to downsize your collection this year.
- Giving Them to Friends
A lot of my friends are also readers. That being said they read very specific things as they tend to only read a few books a year. But, that being said I’ve already given away all of my Stephen King, James Patterson, and all the Dean Koontz books that I’ve read. Keeping only my absolute favorites. For Stephen King, this means Salem’s Lot. Which if you ask me is the best vampire book ever written.
2. Selling them
This is one of my favorite ways to get rid of clutter because it puts money back into my own pocket. I’ve been using Amazon and Ebay for the more expensive books and Decluttr for the others. I’ve even taken several boxes of books up to 2nd and Charles which pays cash for books. So far I’ve made a pretty penny, not enough to make me want to go back into reselling full time but enough to keep my eye out. If you know any other apps for getting rid of books and collectibles let me know I’m always looking for more outlets as I continue downsizing.
3. Donating them
Anything I can’t sell or give to friends, I’ve been donating them. Usually a box at a time I’ve been taking them Goodwill and the local friends of the library book shop, for the nicer ones. This is the way that I have to do it, since throwing away a book, even one in bad condition goes against every fiber of my being.
So far I’ve gotten rid of a lot of books. But, I still have even more to go through. After I get through all the boxes I have in storage, then it’s going to be time to tackle my bookshelves and hopefully get them to a point where they aren’t overflowing.
