Weeding

By --Deb on

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We’re moving in a couple weeks (the first time since I was 9 years old), and I’ve been going through my library of 3000+ books, choosing the books that I could bear to part with and NOT have to pack to move. Which made me wonder…

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)

And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore?  SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?


Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Posted in: Wordpress

93 responses

  1. reviewsbylola

    3,000+ books is impressive!

    BTT: Weeding

  2. iwriteinbooks

    I think my policy changes over time…

    BTT: The Secret Afterlife of Books.

  3. lilly

    I do not usually get rid of books but look at my post and see the reason why:

    http://lilly-readingextravaganza.blogspot.com/2009/10/btt-weeding-out-my-library.html

  4. Crystal

    I go through spells. Good luck with your move. Mine is here:

    http://myreadingroom-crystal.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-october-15th.html

  5. Barbara H.

    Good question. Books are like old friends, but one only has so much room, so sometimes I have to weed out a few. My answer is here along with criteria to help decide what books should go:

    http://barbarah.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/4346/

  6. Michelle

    Great question! I’m curious how others manage this one. http://www.michellesmastermusings.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding.html

  7. MARIE BURTON

    My answer is up at The Burton Review.
    Got a couple giveaways going on there too, check around!

    http://www.theburtonreview.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-books-like.html

  8. Novroz

    It makes me think 🙂

    BTT : Weeding

  9. Zee

    I’m not so good with the getting rid of books. Of course right now my books are living in two different countries.

    Here is my response

    http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding-out.html

  10. Booking Through Thursday: Weeding « write meg!

    […] addiction, books, buying books, reading, shopping | Leave a Comment  It’s time for Booking Through Thursday — and it’s quite an ugly, dark, rainy one here in Maryland. Hope others have more […]

  11. Megan

    Great question! I probably need to get more serious about the weeding out process…

    Booking Through Thursday: Weeding

  12. Liz K

    Sacrilege!! Getting rid of books! LOL!

    http://busyisreading.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday_15.html

  13. Maria

    My answer:
    http://kiwiria.livejournal.com/570040.html

  14. mervih

    I’ve had to move often:

    Weeding

  15. Zia

    Here’s mine.

  16. CoversGirl

    One day soon I’ll have to think about this for real, and not just hypothetically! My answer is here.

  17. gautami tripathy

    I liked answering this:

    Booking Through Weeding

  18. novelinsights

    Only when I’m really not going to read them!

    Booking Through Thursday – Weeding

  19. BooksPlease

    I’m moving house too!

    Here’s my answer.

  20. Bobbi

    You’re supposed to get rid of books?!! Here’s my response:
    Bobbi’s Book Nook

    This is my first Booking Through Thursday and I have enjoyed it. I’ll be back next week!

  21. The Literary Omnivore

    I don’t get rid of books often, but then, I don’t buy books that often- I usually abuse my library privileges!

    Booking Through Thursday: Weeding

  22. mizb17

    My answer’s up, along with a picture!

    http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/btt-weeding/

    ~MizB

  23. Marce

    Happy Thursday all,

    3000+ books, omg, have fun getting through those. That and moving…. STRESSFUL.

    http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding-your.html

  24. Robin

    Here is mine!

    http://almostcrazymommy.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-old-books.html

  25. Missy

    Happy BTT Everyone!!

    http://missysbooknook.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday.html

  26. Kat

    Hello everyone. Been a while since I did BTT. Here is my answer. Cheers!

  27. Sarah

    Good luck with your move and the weeding process, Deb. I can only say that I don’t envy you. Actually, I did say a little more than that: here.

  28. Vasilly

    This is a great question. Here’s my answer:

    Booking Through Thursday: Weeding

  29. Francesca Ivy

    yay, the hard part when moving out to a new house is how you’ll keep all the keepsakes and prized possessions (books) intact. You have to take into consideration about packing them up and bringing them all over (if the new house is big enough) or ‘weeding’ them out as you say when you got a smaller place than the one you have now.

    It will be hard work for you with those thousand + books. I wish you good luck. 🙂

    Here’s my BTT with a photo. 🙂

  30. JoAnn

    Good question! My answer is here:
    http://lakesidemusing.blogspot.com/2009/10/btt-weeding-my-book-garden.html

  31. Marie

    I weed now and then. It has to happen!
    http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday.html

  32. Amy Reads Good Books

    Cool question! I’m a ruthless weeder. Here’s why:

    http://amyreads.com/?p=661

  33. Lynne

    This is a good question. I look forward to seeing what everyone else does. Here’s my “weedy” answer:

    Lynne’s Letters

  34. JLS Hall (Joy's Blog)

    Weed my library? What a concept. Here’s my answer:

    http://jlshall.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding.html

  35. Book Bird Dog

    Here’s my reply to this week’s questions: Booking Through Thursday: I Miss My Books

  36. Meghan

    I participated for the first time in a while this week – http://chikune.com/blog/?p=1698.

  37. Sarah

    http://bookwormsarah.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding.html

  38. Sherrie

    Hi!
    Wow that’s a lot of books!! Good luck moving them to their new home. My BTT is posted at my place, Just Books. Have a great day!

    Sherrie
    http://sherriesbooks.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday.html

  39. daphne

    Here’s mine:

    http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding.html

  40. Kathleen

    Depends on how ambitious I am at any given time as to what I do with my books.

    my blog is here:
    http://celticladysramblings.blogspot.com/

  41. 3m

    http://www.1morechapter.com/2009/10/15/booking-through-thursday-weeding/

  42. Mog

    Here is mine http://zetor-mogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday.html

  43. Bluestocking

    Here is mine

  44. Karoline

    3000 books. Wow. More than I have. And the hombre complains that I have a lot of books..meh! 😛

    Booking Through Thursday 10/15

  45. Kathy H

    I move around A LOT so I have to keep my library small…for now.

    http://bookwormnation.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday_15.html

  46. Ophelia

    Oh, my family and I just moved a few weeks ago too! It is always hard having to part with books, but sometimes it has to be done, especially when moving from state to state, like we just did. I posted a picture of myself in my new home library, as well as my response to today’s BTT question here:

    http://opheliasworld.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding.html

    To Deb and anyone else who might be moving soon: Good luck with your upcoming move! And have fun! 🙂

  47. Allison

    I am ENVIOUS of the 3,000 books!!!! So jealous!!

    http://wellreadreviews.com/?p=1532

  48. La Coccinelle

    I answered this here.

  49. Allison

    Here’s mine:
    http://readintothis.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-13.html

  50. Vicki

    I just moved about 6 months ago.
    I’m loving my new house, I hope you love yours!!

    Mine’s HERE

  51. Sassy Brit (Alternative-Read.com)

    Here’s mine! Hope I’m not too late!!
    http://tjbook-list.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-paperback.html

    Happy Thursday everyone.

    Sassy
    🙂

  52. Jordan

    Here is my response

    http://insidethemindjm.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-7.html

  53. alitareads

    Wow, 3000 books??! Good luck with moving them all 🙂

    Here’s my answer: BTT

  54. Stormi

    I am not to good at getting rid of books, here is my post:

    http://writesthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/10/btt-lovemy-books.html

  55. LizzyJ

    I just swapped a bunch on paperback swap. But I hate loosing a book because you let someone borrow it who does not return it.

    http://historicallyobsessed.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding.html

  56. Alison

    I don’t usually need to weed my books.

  57. Matthew

    Most get rid of ones that I rate “Toss” on reviews.

    Full answer is up. Happy BTT! 🙂

  58. theexile

    Here’s mine:

    Booking Through Thursday: Book Gardening

  59. teacherninja

    In which I discuss my own personal books and weeding in the school library: http://www.teacherninjas.com/2009/10/weeding.html

  60. Jessica Coleman

    I’m a pro at weeding! http://botheyes.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/booking-through-thursday-weeding/

  61. Kari

    3000 books? I envy you 🙂

    Here is my response: http://kariannalysis.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-1015/

  62. Melissa - Shhh I'm Reading

    Mine is (finally) up!

    http://shhhimreading.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursdayweeding.html

  63. CB James

    Here’s one more.

    http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com/2009/10/weeding-books-booking-through-thursday.html

  64. Kirsten

    Purging the first time was excruciating, but liberating – hoping for more of the latter and less of the former this time around: http://foliofiles.femmeflavor.com/2009/10/15/booking-through-thursday-2/

  65. pussreboots

    I try to weed my books on a continuing basis. See how and why here.

  66. Casey Talbot

    http://twenty-somethingbookworm.blogspot.com/2009/10/btt-library-weeding.html

    ENJOY!

  67. christine

    Great question this week!

    http://booktumbling.com/2009/10/15/booking-through-thursday-3/

  68. ted

    Kinda late but better than never…
    http://bookeywookey.blogspot.com/2009/10/controlling-bookish-frenzy.html

  69. Tim

    Been a few Thursdays for me but here’s mine.

  70. Jeane

    It is such a hard thing to decide which books to keep and which to let go. I usually only keep the ones I really really love and know I want to read again. The others find their way to other readers:

    http://dogeardiary.blogspot.com/2009/02/reading-frustrations.html

  71. Jeane

    Oops, sorry! That link was to the wrong post! Here’s the correct one:

    http://dogeardiary.blogspot.com/2009/10/meme-weeding.html

  72. Joseph

    Excellent question. Here is my answer.

  73. Audrey

    My first answer…this is fun!

    http://booksasfood.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding.html

  74. Trisha

    I had it up earlier but forgot to post my link!

    http://www.eclectic-eccentric.com/2009/10/btt-weeding.html

  75. Becca

    Here’s mine:

    Weeding

  76. Unruly Reader

    Not only Unruly, but also BRUTAL! I’m a weeding fanatic. Sort of. Sometimes.

    http://unrulyreader.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding.html

  77. justabookreader

    Yes, I admit, I weed, but not because I want to and certainly not because I like it – http://justbookreading.com/2009/10/15/booking-through-thursday-3/

  78. Jenny

    I love weeding my collection: http://jennysbooks.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/this-week-on-btt/

  79. Tina Kubala

    I’m doubting any of us are very good at getting rid of books

    http://tinakubala.com/2009/10/15/weeding-the-library.aspx

  80. DelGal's Book Reviews

    Throw away books? GASP! Such dirty words! I could never!

    Happy Thursday all!

    http://www.delgalreviews.com

  81. Rosemary

    Happy Thursday all! Great question this week. Here’s my response:

    http://bookingitbusstyle.blogspot.com/2009/10/grows-like-weed.html

  82. Elena

    Here’s my response as a first timer. I’ve got to say this was a stunningly appropriate question.
    http://allbookedup-elena.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday.html

  83. Bryan Terry

    My BTT is HERE

  84. pinaymama

    http://thefishgate.blogspot.com/2009/10/weeding.html

  85. utter randomonium » Blog Archive » Booking Through Thursday -

    […] (And yes, I’m well aware that it’s not Thursday.) This week’s topic is on weeding your book collection. More […]

  86. melydia

    http://melydia.zoiks.org/2009/10/booking-through-thursday/

  87. Anna ♥

    Good luck moving with all those books!

    Here’s mine!

  88. Schatzi

    rather late: http://mealibris.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/booking-through-thursday-weeding/

  89. thekams

    I never get rid of books voluntarily: my BTT on escape through the pages.

  90. Melody

    I’m late. Better late than never.
    Here’s mine. 🙂

  91. Marilyn

    I envy you your books.
    http://thestairlanding.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday-weeding.html

  92. Johanne

    I’m pretty much in the “Not Get Rid of Books. At All.” camp. I just can’t! I become WAY to emotionally attached to my books… 🙂

    I participated in a Book exchange once, and brought 3 books I had read, didn’t really like (disclaimer: not that they were bad and thus I was bringing crap to the exchange *gasp* No they just weren’t my type, and it just proves it when I took one out and one of the girls exclaimed “Oh that’s such a good one!” heh), and would never ever read again. And I felt a huge twinge. It felt wrong. I came back with 3 new books to read, that looked really, really good – yet I still think about those 3 books. Hmm.

    I would do it again, though… if I can find more books I’m willing to part with. 😛

    For the same reasons, I haven’t been able to really look into digital books yet. I love the idea, I think it’s great, and love how green-friendly it is. But there’s something about holding a physical book, feeling it’s brand new-deness or holding a used book knowing you’re giving it a second (or third or fourth) life, of smelling the pages…

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