A friend of mine was engaged in writing a historical novel. She was very happy to find an encyclopedia from about a century back, giving her insight into life at that time. It is not necessarily a good idea to discard old reference books.
Sadly the usual reasons for getting rid of books are bereavement, or an older person going into a home or moving to a smaller house, or, less sadly, needing space for a growing family or for other hobbies.
I came across someone somewhere on the internet at some point who said something like, "I tried the Marie Kondo method of decluttering when if it doesn’t bring you joy, throw it out. So far I’ve thrown out the electric bill, the vegetable rack, the scales and my bra."
I like this approach!
I find it hard to throw away (donate) books although tried to be relatively strict with myself last time I moved home. They provide much comfort, escape and reassurance alongside the heart-wrenching emotions, information, memories and giggles.
One good reason for rereading old books is to track the changes in oneself .... whether 'progress' or something else.
I decided to get rid of all my 'Philosophy of Science' and most of my theology books. I just didn't understand, or want to understand, them any more. I love the quote from an old priest, "I used to know all the proofs of the existence of God, but I've forgotten them all".
I donated most of my theology books to a seminarian in Africa. It was somewhat expensive and to ship them there and to pay the tariff, but he will have better use of them than me.
Another quote (sorry) from C S Lewis: "Will there be books on Heaven?" "Yes, but only the ones you've lent." And, I'm sure he would want to add, those you have given away and bought for others.
Book hoarders remind me in some ways of pet hoarders. It's a virtue taken to an extreme. Similarly, a subset not only feel personally virtuous, but superior to others because "they clearly love books/animals more than you do" and are therefore better people.
Both kinds of hoarders also seem to me to come to a similar outcome. They either eventually realize they are totally overwhelmed and feel helpless to tackle the problem; or they blithely carry on, assuming that the burden of dealing with the hoard will fall on someone else. Which imo is unethical, but ymmv.
This thread doesn't focus on how to deal with a book hoard, but as the saying goes, it's like eating an elephant: one bite at a time.
I have had to deal with exactly this issue in recent years. Thinning out my collection of books is something I regularly do. With the library services being so run down in recent years, I have been buying more, and now and again think ‘do I need to keep this?’ and take a bag down to the Amnesty International shop.
I also download many books onto the iPad. Apart from ameliorating the storage issues, I can adjust the font size (my eyesight is slightly deteriorating).
But obviously there are many books which I don’t want to get rid off. I inherited my grandfather’s edition of the Works of Dickens, which is of great sentimental value.
Another inherited book: a 1926 edition of Lady Troubridge’s two volume ‘Book of Etiquette’ - which has very useful information on such matters as engaging servants, how to address Bishops etc and the complexities of 1920’s place settings. An absolute gem.
Earlier this week, I went into the large Waterstone’s in Trafalgar Square - spent ages down there in the basement. Brought a couple of small paperbacks (with acceptable fonts): Geoffrey Hill’s ‘Selected Poems’ and some Helen Oyeyemi short stories - ‘What is Not Yours is Not Yours’. I’d been vaguely looking out for both of these - an excellent bookshop.
Book hoarders remind me in some ways of pet hoarders. It's a virtue taken to an extreme. Similarly, a subset not only feel personally virtuous, but superior to others because "they clearly love books/animals more than you do" and are therefore better people.
Both kinds of hoarders also seem to me to come to a similar outcome. They either eventually realize they are totally overwhelmed and feel helpless to tackle the problem; or they blithely carry on, assuming that the burden of dealing with the hoard will fall on someone else. Which imo is unethical, but ymmv.
This thread doesn't focus on how to deal with a book hoard, but as the saying goes, it's like eating an elephant: one bite at a time.
Ideas of how many books you need to have to qualify as a book hoarder may vary.
I think part of the problem is that books aren't just objects that lie around your house collecting dust: they're part of who you are. Coming across a book you haven't seen for a while and want to reread (usually while looking for something else) is like meeting an old friend.
Of course, some books are also works of art in their own right. We don't have many of those...
I think the book hoarder/pet hoarder analogy is flawed. A book hoarder is not responsible for keeping the books alive and in good health.
Thank you for pointing out that books are not sentient.
I was thinking more about the thought processes of book/animal hoarders. Jane R had some interesting observations. What makes a hoard? If you have available space for storage, without negative impact on your life, can/should you just fill your boots with as many books as possible? What are the ethics of making this "someone else's problem after I die"?
Books, like pets, can bring joy and a sense of relationship. Jane R compared the possession of some books with the relationship with old friends. Newer social media prompts thinking about the question: Who are actually my friends? What does it mean to mistake acquaintances for friends? There are some books on my shelves which are old friends, some retired work colleagues, some acquaintances, and some strangers whom I recognize from passing by them often.
ISTM that hoarding is regarded as a subset of anxious behaviour. What does it say about the emotional bandwidth of people who have trouble grieving and letting go of things, even if those things have a very limited relationship (see above - strangers rather than old dear friends)? Is there a competing virtue of living a simplified life?
I probably have more books than I want or need... but not by much. I think it's a reasonable quantity for the space in which I live, and for their possible future disposition by others.
So many books that we got on sale at places like Tower records when it still existed, Virgin megastore, etc., that we never read. I think when we lost the house in 2009 we sort of… it was like our lives were put on hold… when the time comes I’ll have to make some decisions about various books… and CDs, DVDs, etc.
I can see the point @Leaf was making and also your @Gamma Gamaliel . It can be problematic when people with two very different coping mechanisms have to work together to do the required weeding which inevitably has to happen. I found it worked best for sister and I to split the books, I then weeded my share alone and decided if anything was sentimental to me, or that my kids would like.
I have specified a couple of items in my will which are family things, but not valuable. Because hanging onto a lot of stuff and perhaps bordering on hoarding was my sister's approach, I thought it best not to stress her with the details of my decisions. I thought she didn't need to be reclaiming things, or getting upset about things I decided were unimportant to me. Having divided the books amicably, she has plenty and if she wants to weed her share later, I am not bothered by whether she does or doesn't.
I know my husband would toss all my books, he is not sentimental and not a reader at all. Therefore I've told the kids that there are items in the will for them and I'll do my best to keep that updated, or pass those on if they ever leave home, then the other stuff is not of concern too much.
Definitely keeping a lot of Cubby’s books, at least ones that are sentimental to me. It’s possible that some of the plays and things that I’m really not into could get donated though. I think he would rather they get read and enjoyed by somebody.
Before getting onto the books I have music which takes up a vast amount of shelf and cupboard space. I've cut down the chamber music by donating a pile to a local school (I did ask if they wanted it before handing it over) but the rest? I have one small IKEA Billy cupboard full of piano music - solo, duets, trios, etc - and one with a mixture of 'cello, horn and recorder music, plus some harpsichord stuff. Vocal scores take up another, and two more for hymnals, carols, chant books, service music, anthems and madrigals. Luckily I can keep most of my organ music at church, but there are two more cupboards full of stuff for chorister training, aural tests and books on music of all kinds. And then there are the recorders, a mandolin, a few percussion instruments.
As for books, I have a rule that they should be in good condition: if they're particularly dog-eared and part of a set I want to keep I'll look out for a replacement in the local Oxfam shop. Pride of place goes to a complete set of the Jennings books which I know my sons will want when I'm no longer around.
Oh my goodness, @TheOrganist, one of my ambitions is to have a complete set of those, like William Brown, guaranteed to have one speechless with laughter and tears rolling down my face.
@ChastMastr, I have not heard that, can it be found on the yew tube?
An elderly friend has an enormous collection of research papers and books that he can't part with. I suggested that one way to deal with them is to rent a storage unit, and when it suits him, he can stop paying the rent. The owners will then clear it out and dispose of everything (which happened to another friend). Last week he rented a storage unit...
De-lurking because I found it impossible to resist this topic.
I have halved the number of books in this house, to the extent that they now fit onto the shelves I have. Reasons for keeping the half I have left? sentiment (e.g. my mother's copy of Alice in Wonderland, local history from all the places I have lived, books I bought for the special subject I took at University), comfort (books I will always want to reread), things I really do plan to read (if you believe that, you'll believe anything!), things I will use (e.g. dictionaries, Bibles and hymnbooks - much culled), inspiration (e.g. cookery books - still too many) and 'just because I love them' books.
Reasons I kept things too long? I stress this is personal to me and won't apply to others: guilt (I kept all my late husband's books and only brought myself to part with them when someone offered to donate most of them to a university library) and inertia (there were dozens of boxes of books brought from our previous home which we never opened so plainly never missed, which it took me years to open and sort).
I still need to prune more. To date, from Mr Puzzler’s study I have about 300 remaining, and about 50 more downstairs that need to go, plus two boxes of my French literature and language which came down from the loft.
The rest have gone to three clergy, two lay preachers, three directors of music, two friends, my hairdresser(!), 14 crates to Oxfam book shop, four crates to National Trust bookshop, 300 to a charity which sends books abroad to seminaries and clergy in the Majority World. My daughter has had most of the paperback fiction and my stepson has taken the Philosophy, some for his own use, the rest to be put out for students to help themselves.
I’m ‘shelving’ the task for now until I can face it / get some help to lift and transport more boxes.
With the library services being so run down in recent years,
This is a good point. Libraries are no longer trustworthy. In my youth, I could borrow a book from the library, and rely on being able to borrow it again in five years. These days, libraries seem to be aggressively pruning their collection of books, because they don't want to allocate the space to shelving. I can list any number of books that I would like to read again, but my local library has chosen to dispose of.
Oh my goodness, @TheOrganist, one of my ambitions is to have a complete set of those, like William Brown, guaranteed to have one speechless with laughter and tears rolling down my face.
@ChastMastr, I have not heard that, can it be found on the yew tube?
Not only books. Several hundred classical CDs. Several dozen DVDs.
I just can't seem to get rid of them.
I'm another with the complete Discworld series. They are my bedtime reading - just a couple of pages to put my mind into a better place.
Not only books. Several hundred classical CDs. Several dozen DVDs.
I just can't seem to get rid of them.
I'm another with the complete Discworld series. They are my bedtime reading - just a couple of pages to put my mind into a better place.
Never, ever, put CDs orDVDs in a cupboard and leave them there. You'll open the cupboard door after a number of weeks or months and find they've multiplied!
And don't try offloading CDs to grandchildren. They don't know what they are.
I recently bought my musician son in law a (very good) record player, but I'm making very slow progress in giving him any of my LPs. He prefers to buy his own. Dear Lord, have I introduced him to my addiction?
There is a faint light at the end of a very long tunnel as regards books. We are having a proper ladder and hatch to the roofspace installed - where Mr F's father's books fill 50 or so boxes.
Though I have a bad feeling that if we do get rid of some or all, others will take their place...
With the library services being so run down in recent years,
This is a good point. Libraries are no longer trustworthy. In my youth, I could borrow a book from the library, and rely on being able to borrow it again in five years. These days, libraries seem to be aggressively pruning their collection of books, because they don't want to allocate the space to shelving. I can list any number of books that I would like to read again, but my local library has chosen to dispose of.
Libraries don't have much choice in the matter. Shelf space costs money. They can't just keep building extensions every time they run out of space. And thousands of new books are published every year, along with multiple reprints of books which are out of copyright - although libraries can't buy as many of those as they'd like, because library funding has been cut to the bone. They can't afford to keep books that aren't being regularly borrowed.
The shelves in our public library always used to be crammed tight from end to end. Now there are yards of empty shelf space everywhere. They are steadily discarding books and not replacing them with anything like the same number of new acquisitions. The money is going into things like the laser cutter and 3D printer in the 'maker space'.
Libraries have changed drastically since I began work 40 years ago. When I left 5 years ago, the move to mostly electronic had been achieved with most spaces being dedicated to users as lots of students still wanted to work in the library rather than at home or in their residences.
I really missed the arrival of the UK newspapers, and those from Russia. A CD of Horrid Henry which arrived with one UK paper became the go to sleep background for our son and even now I threaten him with it when he stays up way too late. BTW I was offered it as we would never have put that into the collection.
We do have our DVDs in Swedish shop long cupboards and maximised space there by taking all out of their boxes and putting into sleeves. Black sleeves for DVDs and red ones for gaming discs. Unfortunately our favourite type of sleeves became unavailable several years ago, so I think the colour coding may now have gone by the wayside.
I still prefer a tree book as I like to get off my screen to enjoy my novels and my whole life would be screens, otherwise.
Oh my goodness, @TheOrganist, one of my ambitions is to have a complete set of those, like William Brown, guaranteed to have one speechless with laughter and tears rolling down my face.
@ChastMastr, I have not heard that, can it be found on the yew tube?
I have several devices with Kindle installed and several books.
But none of them come close to the physical pleasure of holding an actual book. Its the feel and smell of the things and the way that they become personalised with multiple readings.
Now the only things I have on my Kindle are the handbooks for my camera (yes, I still own one) and my motorbike. And that is so I have them with me when I am out and about.
Further to my ramble above: Very pregnant DiL spends her days in my house* being cossetted and has just discovered the Jennings books, with the result that I hear gales of laughter from the verandah.
* The poor girl can't cope with full meals now so I'm providing regular small portions throughout the day.
Our public library did lose some shelf space to computer terminals and a cafe, but the actual shelves are still fairly full (bearing in mind that a lot of books will be out on loan). They also have an ebook collection, which was heavily used (and greatly expanded) during the pandemic. They certainly haven't abandoned physical books, but libraries are also community centres (often the only ones left) and study spaces. Last time I was in the cafe I spotted several people with small children, a group of pensioners having a chat, several people on their own working on laptops and a group of young men (not sure whether they were students or unemployed) playing Magic: The Gathering. Now, they could all have been doing those things in an ordinary cafe (except perhaps the guys playing Magic, who would probably have been moved on after half an hour) but they wouldn't have been able to borrow books as well. The cafe has significantly boosted use of the library and also makes coming into the library less intimidating for people who aren't used to libraries.
I do like physical books, but ebooks are useful too, if only because it's the only way I can take enough reading material with me when I go on holiday.
@Cheery Gardener : you were an academic librarian? I blame JSTOR for that, it saved acres of space for journals which was then immediately filled with computers.
@Jane R , I am not a properly qualified librarian. I spent the first few years of my working life in public library and about a year and a half in a school library. I could not get a fulltime job, so worked half a day in each, until I could secure a full time role.
Later I moved interstate with husband, and began work in an Academic library, oh the wonders of everything I saw. One favourite title being the Journal of Pseudepigrapha. Of course space and salaries were a huge problem and then came the double edged sword of redundancy packages and the move to electronic products. It was a completely different kind of work and I found it stressful, worrying about whether we'd given access correctly, or whether we'd get access if we ever had to cancel due to financial issues. It reminded me of swapping a purchase for a video hire system. Perhaps in some areas it doesn't matter, but I wonder if in hindsight it will be seen as a good thing. One thing I did not miss was preparing things for binding and trying to round up mis-shelved or on loan issues to complete a volume!!
Sorry hosts for the tangent.
I am so glad to read of DIL enjoying Jennings @TheOrganist. If she is almost due, he might help to move things along! I used to love visiting my Nanna as I knew the library in her hometown had a large collection and sometimes the parents would take us there for the evening and many a happy hour was spent with Jennings & Derbyshire!
Most of the potential Arrowsmiths in the world are called Fletcher...
I've been thinking about the library tangent - but it's not really a tangent, is it, because one of the considerations when you are deciding whether to get rid of a book, after 'am I ever going to read this again?' is 'if I change my mind, how easy would it be to get hold of another copy?'
And libraries also have a role to play in controlling the rate of new acquisitions. I have a pile of library books sitting at my elbow that I don't have to buy (I am only going to read them once).
I have begun, slowly and reluctantly, to cull my books. I had at one time a dream of living in a library, where any time I thought of a book I had read and liked I could walk into the next room and take it off the shelf. I coveted Henry Higgins's library in "My Fair Lady," with shelves to the gallery above and rolling ladders. Alas, it won't happen.
When the time comes for me to declutter my books and such, I think it’ll be easier to find the ones I want to read. I/we bought things that were markdowns at stores that no longer exist and that we never read, and I don’t see myself ever reading. They’re just sort of there. No nostalgia, just sort of occupying space. Sentimental stuff or anything I plan to read, or of course reread, I will keep. (Every single C.S. Lewis book is staying, of course. ❤️ ) And this also applies to the comics, the CDs, DVDs, etc.
Comments
So that’s a few more shelves needed as they will take more space than the paperbacks they replace.
No, that's what she personally does. Not what she thinks everyone else should do.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/1/17/18185657/tidying-up-marie-kondo-netflix-books
I like this approach!
I find it hard to throw away (donate) books although tried to be relatively strict with myself last time I moved home. They provide much comfort, escape and reassurance alongside the heart-wrenching emotions, information, memories and giggles.
I decided to get rid of all my 'Philosophy of Science' and most of my theology books. I just didn't understand, or want to understand, them any more. I love the quote from an old priest, "I used to know all the proofs of the existence of God, but I've forgotten them all".
Both kinds of hoarders also seem to me to come to a similar outcome. They either eventually realize they are totally overwhelmed and feel helpless to tackle the problem; or they blithely carry on, assuming that the burden of dealing with the hoard will fall on someone else. Which imo is unethical, but ymmv.
This thread doesn't focus on how to deal with a book hoard, but as the saying goes, it's like eating an elephant: one bite at a time.
I also download many books onto the iPad. Apart from ameliorating the storage issues, I can adjust the font size (my eyesight is slightly deteriorating).
But obviously there are many books which I don’t want to get rid off. I inherited my grandfather’s edition of the Works of Dickens, which is of great sentimental value.
Another inherited book: a 1926 edition of Lady Troubridge’s two volume ‘Book of Etiquette’ - which has very useful information on such matters as engaging servants, how to address Bishops etc and the complexities of 1920’s place settings. An absolute gem.
Earlier this week, I went into the large Waterstone’s in Trafalgar Square - spent ages down there in the basement. Brought a couple of small paperbacks (with acceptable fonts): Geoffrey Hill’s ‘Selected Poems’ and some Helen Oyeyemi short stories - ‘What is Not Yours is Not Yours’. I’d been vaguely looking out for both of these - an excellent bookshop.
There’s nothing like the smell of a new book!
Does that come with or without a dedicated Librarian? Oook?
I think part of the problem is that books aren't just objects that lie around your house collecting dust: they're part of who you are. Coming across a book you haven't seen for a while and want to reread (usually while looking for something else) is like meeting an old friend.
Of course, some books are also works of art in their own right. We don't have many of those...
Thank you for pointing out that books are not sentient.
I was thinking more about the thought processes of book/animal hoarders. Jane R had some interesting observations. What makes a hoard? If you have available space for storage, without negative impact on your life, can/should you just fill your boots with as many books as possible? What are the ethics of making this "someone else's problem after I die"?
Books, like pets, can bring joy and a sense of relationship. Jane R compared the possession of some books with the relationship with old friends. Newer social media prompts thinking about the question: Who are actually my friends? What does it mean to mistake acquaintances for friends? There are some books on my shelves which are old friends, some retired work colleagues, some acquaintances, and some strangers whom I recognize from passing by them often.
ISTM that hoarding is regarded as a subset of anxious behaviour. What does it say about the emotional bandwidth of people who have trouble grieving and letting go of things, even if those things have a very limited relationship (see above - strangers rather than old dear friends)? Is there a competing virtue of living a simplified life?
I probably have more books than I want or need... but not by much. I think it's a reasonable quantity for the space in which I live, and for their possible future disposition by others.
I've heard of 'holier than thou' but not 'Less Book-Hoarder than thou.'
😉
But reasonable points otherwise. 😉
I have specified a couple of items in my will which are family things, but not valuable. Because hanging onto a lot of stuff and perhaps bordering on hoarding was my sister's approach, I thought it best not to stress her with the details of my decisions. I thought she didn't need to be reclaiming things, or getting upset about things I decided were unimportant to me. Having divided the books amicably, she has plenty and if she wants to weed her share later, I am not bothered by whether she does or doesn't.
I know my husband would toss all my books, he is not sentimental and not a reader at all. Therefore I've told the kids that there are items in the will for them and I'll do my best to keep that updated, or pass those on if they ever leave home, then the other stuff is not of concern too much.
As for books, I have a rule that they should be in good condition: if they're particularly dog-eared and part of a set I want to keep I'll look out for a replacement in the local Oxfam shop. Pride of place goes to a complete set of the Jennings books which I know my sons will want when I'm no longer around.
Have you heard this?
@ChastMastr, I have not heard that, can it be found on the yew tube?
I have halved the number of books in this house, to the extent that they now fit onto the shelves I have. Reasons for keeping the half I have left? sentiment (e.g. my mother's copy of Alice in Wonderland, local history from all the places I have lived, books I bought for the special subject I took at University), comfort (books I will always want to reread), things I really do plan to read (if you believe that, you'll believe anything!), things I will use (e.g. dictionaries, Bibles and hymnbooks - much culled), inspiration (e.g. cookery books - still too many) and 'just because I love them' books.
Reasons I kept things too long? I stress this is personal to me and won't apply to others: guilt (I kept all my late husband's books and only brought myself to part with them when someone offered to donate most of them to a university library) and inertia (there were dozens of boxes of books brought from our previous home which we never opened so plainly never missed, which it took me years to open and sort).
All this and an e-reader too.
I have appreciated all the comments and insights.
I still need to prune more. To date, from Mr Puzzler’s study I have about 300 remaining, and about 50 more downstairs that need to go, plus two boxes of my French literature and language which came down from the loft.
The rest have gone to three clergy, two lay preachers, three directors of music, two friends, my hairdresser(!), 14 crates to Oxfam book shop, four crates to National Trust bookshop, 300 to a charity which sends books abroad to seminaries and clergy in the Majority World. My daughter has had most of the paperback fiction and my stepson has taken the Philosophy, some for his own use, the rest to be put out for students to help themselves.
I’m ‘shelving’ the task for now until I can face it / get some help to lift and transport more boxes.
This is a good point. Libraries are no longer trustworthy. In my youth, I could borrow a book from the library, and rely on being able to borrow it again in five years. These days, libraries seem to be aggressively pruning their collection of books, because they don't want to allocate the space to shelving. I can list any number of books that I would like to read again, but my local library has chosen to dispose of.
Why, yes!
Behold The IKEA Song!!
https://youtu.be/IUPu_ipbVB0?si=mAaO_f-Oiv8UKwbM
I just can't seem to get rid of them.
I'm another with the complete Discworld series. They are my bedtime reading - just a couple of pages to put my mind into a better place.
Never, ever, put CDs orDVDs in a cupboard and leave them there. You'll open the cupboard door after a number of weeks or months and find they've multiplied!
And don't try offloading CDs to grandchildren. They don't know what they are.
I recently bought my musician son in law a (very good) record player, but I'm making very slow progress in giving him any of my LPs. He prefers to buy his own. Dear Lord, have I introduced him to my addiction?
Me too, you can read any part of any book. Very good for the mind.
I have them all - on Kindle. My physical books all went to charity shops.
CDs and DVDs all gone the same way apart from five CDs I couldn't prise out of Mr Boogs hands.
Only hundreds? Thousands.
There is a faint light at the end of a very long tunnel as regards books. We are having a proper ladder and hatch to the roofspace installed - where Mr F's father's books fill 50 or so boxes.
Though I have a bad feeling that if we do get rid of some or all, others will take their place...
Libraries don't have much choice in the matter. Shelf space costs money. They can't just keep building extensions every time they run out of space. And thousands of new books are published every year, along with multiple reprints of books which are out of copyright - although libraries can't buy as many of those as they'd like, because library funding has been cut to the bone. They can't afford to keep books that aren't being regularly borrowed.
I really missed the arrival of the UK newspapers, and those from Russia. A CD of Horrid Henry which arrived with one UK paper became the go to sleep background for our son and even now I threaten him with it when he stays up way too late. BTW I was offered it as we would never have put that into the collection.
We do have our DVDs in Swedish shop long cupboards and maximised space there by taking all out of their boxes and putting into sleeves. Black sleeves for DVDs and red ones for gaming discs. Unfortunately our favourite type of sleeves became unavailable several years ago, so I think the colour coding may now have gone by the wayside.
I still prefer a tree book as I like to get off my screen to enjoy my novels and my whole life would be screens, otherwise.
I learnt from this that I have been pronouncing IKEA wrongly. We don't have one in Christchurch,
But none of them come close to the physical pleasure of holding an actual book. Its the feel and smell of the things and the way that they become personalised with multiple readings.
Now the only things I have on my Kindle are the handbooks for my camera (yes, I still own one) and my motorbike. And that is so I have them with me when I am out and about.
* The poor girl can't cope with full meals now so I'm providing regular small portions throughout the day.
I do like physical books, but ebooks are useful too, if only because it's the only way I can take enough reading material with me when I go on holiday.
@Cheery Gardener : you were an academic librarian? I blame JSTOR for that, it saved acres of space for journals which was then immediately filled with computers.
Later I moved interstate with husband, and began work in an Academic library, oh the wonders of everything I saw. One favourite title being the Journal of Pseudepigrapha. Of course space and salaries were a huge problem and then came the double edged sword of redundancy packages and the move to electronic products. It was a completely different kind of work and I found it stressful, worrying about whether we'd given access correctly, or whether we'd get access if we ever had to cancel due to financial issues. It reminded me of swapping a purchase for a video hire system. Perhaps in some areas it doesn't matter, but I wonder if in hindsight it will be seen as a good thing. One thing I did not miss was preparing things for binding and trying to round up mis-shelved or on loan issues to complete a volume!!
Sorry hosts for the tangent.
I am so glad to read of DIL enjoying Jennings @TheOrganist. If she is almost due, he might help to move things along! I used to love visiting my Nanna as I knew the library in her hometown had a large collection and sometimes the parents would take us there for the evening and many a happy hour was spent with Jennings & Derbyshire!
I've been thinking about the library tangent - but it's not really a tangent, is it, because one of the considerations when you are deciding whether to get rid of a book, after 'am I ever going to read this again?' is 'if I change my mind, how easy would it be to get hold of another copy?'
And libraries also have a role to play in controlling the rate of new acquisitions. I have a pile of library books sitting at my elbow that I don't have to buy (I am only going to read them once).
You might as well ask me to get rid of my wife, After all, she takes up a great deal of space.