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Do you have a personal library?

A personal library is a privately owned collection of books and reading materials, kept at home, reflecting the owner's interests, and can range from a few cherished books to vast collections filling entire rooms, serving as sources of pleasure, knowledge, and identity, often organized with personal systems or using tools like library kits for management.

Key Aspects of a Personal Library:
Ownership & Purpose: Owned by an individual or family, curated for personal enjoyment, learning, and reflection, unlike public libraries.

Content: Includes physical books, digital books, and other media, tailored to the owner's tastes, from specific genres to personal classics.

Organization: Can be sorted by genre, subject, author, or personal system (like Dewey Decimal for home use).

Tools: Some enthusiasts use tools like the "Personal Library Kit" (pockets, cards, stamp) to manage lending, while others use digital apps for organization.

Space: Can be a dedicated room (home library) or integrated into living spaces, with design focused on accessibility and aesthetics, often including cozy reading nooks.

How to Build & Nurture Yours:
Assess & Sort: Go through existing books, categorizing them (keep, donate, read, reread).

Define Your Goals: Decide what kind of collection you want to build (e.g., classics, specific history, fiction).

Organize: Use shelves, vertical space, and even labels to make it navigable.

Create a Space: Designate an area with good lighting for a welcoming reading environment.

Maintain: Regularly "weed" your collection and add new books that align with your interests.
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MarkPaul · 26-30, M
Yes. I don't lend them out, "weed" them, donate them, or give them away. I have been thinking about devising a spreadsheet to catalog them all. They are meticulously ordered by the date I finished them, going back several years. Ones I haven't yet read are kept separately. They are all physical books and as the volume grows, I am becoming concerned I will run out of physical space (literally), so I have been thinking about migrating to e-books for practical purposes although I have been resisting that (for some reason). Most are on a bookshelf in the conventional way, but I have had to double up with one row in front of another and have now started to stack them on a tabletop as shelf space is used up.

The breakdown by genre is (estimated):

90% non-fiction (mostly history and biography)
5% literary classics
3% oversized specialty books (coffee table books, picture books, 1 childhood book, etc.)
1% novels
1% textbooks from University that I retained
Crazywaterspring · 61-69, M
I don't thin out or lend anything. One bedroom is full. My den has a wall full of books and vinyl.

The books are mainly history, nonfiction, politics and economics. Add a robust collection of books regarding earth based religions.

The vinyl albums are vintage classical music plus Italian and French opera.
exexec · 70-79, C
I am currently thinning my personal library. I'm donating books that I will never read again to the local library to use or sell. That still leaves a lot of books on the shelves in my study.
badminton · 61-69, MVIP
I have about 200 books in my library. Many reference books, art, politics, history. For fiction and poetry, mostly 19th century American and British. I also have some German, French and Spanish literature in my collection.
I did. Since I lost my house I have had to downsize.
YoMomma ·
Just a small book collection.. would have wanted a library at one point but now almost everything is online
Tracos · 51-55, M
Tracos · 51-55, M
I have about 1500 books

Kind of like the beginnings of the anti-library Umberto Eco referred to
Harmonium1923 · 56-60, M
Yes, a large collection of books. Literature, poetry, history, philosophy, and more.
CuTiePi · F
Im not big on reading but i have a very small collection i like to keep.
JohnnyBravox · 22-25, M
Yes I have around 100+ books
fenomen02 · 46-50, M
Not that kind… I have hundreds of e-book stored in my laptop…
Musicman · 61-69, M
I use to, but not anymore. 😥

 
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