I am a book lover.  I love to read and I love to own books.  I have 3 bookcases in my home that are stocked with books I’ve collected – favorite authors, books on my hobbies, leisure reading, bible studies, and books that show me how to do things (like remodel the bathroom).  There are certain books I will have forever and others that will be with me for just a little while.  Can you relate?

Even though we can now listen to audio books and have books on e-readers, there will still be books on my shelves.  Many of my clients and friends, particularly teachers and researchers, have tons more books than I do. The topic today is how to organize what the books you have.  As I see it, before starting to organize, there are 2 main questions to be answered.

Do you know what you’ve got?   -AND-  How do you want it to be organized?

What you’ve got:

Walk through your home or office and make a quick list of the kind of books you have.  List genres, favorite authors,  types of research books, manuals and textbooks, collector’s editions, etc.  You are not listing the book titles here, just getting a handle on what kind of books you have. Take note of how they are currently organized.  Are there certain bookshelves for certain kinds books or are the books intermingled in multiple locations?

How do you want your books organized?

Now that you have taken stock of your book inventory, let’s create your vision; a plan for how you want your books to be organized.  Here’s a few ideas:

• Sort by genre and assign a shelf or an entire bookcase to a particular genre.

• Purge books you know you do not plan to read or reference again.

• Showcase your prized book collection ( leather bound or author series) in a prominent location to be a part of your home or office decor.

• Put books where you will use them.  For example, you may put all of your gardening books in the den, near a patio, for quick and easy reference. Your research books and text books can be stored in the office/ home library or even in a closed cabinet.

• Create a basket next to your bed or favorite reading chair.  Fill it with the books you are currently reading or plan to read next.

• Create an inventory of your books.  I recommend using the Paper Tiger software for this.  It allows you to search key words and categories.  You can also print out a list of books for insurance purposes.

If your current system is working then that’s fine – do not change a thing (except maybe inventory them with Paper Tiger). Leave me a comment and share what you do to manage your library of books or what you are planning to do to better organize it.  If you have further questions about Paper Tiger software, I’m a trained consultant and would be happy to help.