sorting

 This is when I think I could do with either a real librarian or a real librarian's qualification. For the nth time this summer, we are sorting out books and it's taking up all the imaginative, categorising and sorting skills I have. So we aren't getting far.

We've taken books off shelves, packed them in rented crates for several months, unpacked the crates so that we didn't have to pay to have them for longer than necessary, sorted out the books according the space available in the new kitchen, resorted the rest in the garage (which will need re-resorting before the onset of damp), put the chosen books back on shelves, taken them off so that the shelves could be repainted, and now we have a hall full of books that need sorting out yet again and putting back on newly painted shelves.

But how best to sort them? As I'm not up to using the Dewey Decimal System, we have to decide whether to go alphabetically, by matching height, by matching jacket colour (there are some great photos on Flickr of colourful arrangements), by subject, by publisher, by edition, according to weight (don't want the shelves to sag), most used/least used (least used on top and bottom shelves, most used at eye level), stacked vertically, stacked horizontally, stacked vertically and horizontally, making a concave/Golden Gate Bridge design on each shelf, making a convex/hillocky design on each shelf, putting objets d'art (should we happen to have any) between books, not filling/filling every shelf so that we have interesting positive/negative space things going on, slipping in the odd bar of chocolate camouflaged in Penguin/Persephone colours for emergencies, or a mix of each and every system just to keep us on our toes when we need to find a particular book.

Or maybe we just leave them on the floor a little longer.

Comments

[Jennifer]

Yay for newly painted shelves. I ended up sorting my books into categories, a couple of shelves for nature books, a couple for cooking books etc. That way I can just go to the appropriate section and browse, rather like my own private bookshop. Have fun deciding and arranging.

[Aoife]

We did ours strictly alphabetically, it does seem random and messy at first with all those different sizes and colours, after a while a pleasing pattern does emerge... and, you always know where to find things! Have fun! Ax

[Diane]

I once made the big mistake of sending most of my books to a charity shop. I am now in the preocess of buying them all back as they crop up in my local charity shop!! I have no where to store or display them, but I do love them so.

[Katherine]

Librarian to the rescue! My first instinct is to say shelve by subject but when it comes to recipe books go most used/less used, then by subject, if that makes sense. Have fun!

[Roby]

I find that, in the end, the filing system matters less than the consistency of it. 3 years from now, when you are looking for "Women of Wine" it will be easier to find if it's next to the same book it's been next to for the last 3 years. Eventually, it turns out that they all work their way to THEIR place, no matter whether or not it's alphabetical, or by use.

This handily leads to the conclusion that the best way to put them on the shelves is in the order that they're on the floor. As you use them, you can put the ones you want at eye level and let their natural order assert itself.

[Catherine]

Can I help? Pleeeeease! I love organising and reorganising books!

[Luisa Perkins]

Ours are grouped loosely by category, then by size, then by author. I also have a set of shelves in our window seat where my very most favorite books enjoy pride of place.

Emergency chocolate stashes are an absolute necessity.

BTW, I made Nutella scones today; I think I invented them. Mmmmm.

[LynS]

I'm reminded of Anne Fadiman's wonderful small book 'Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader' - particularly the first essay, 'Marrying Libraries'. Have fun sorting your books.

[Lean Ni Chuilleanain]

Lord, that's a big job. Good luck with it!

Your photo brings back vivid memories for me. In the mid-nineties, my grandmother died and then a family friend died and left my father most of her library. Suddenly, one summer, we had crates and crates of extra books in our already book-filled house. My parents did a major overhaul, lining several more walls with shelves and recategorising everything. It took weeks, and we were all involved. I remember picking my way between teetering piles, each one crowned with a Post-it note indicating its category.

It's tiring, dusty work, but ultimately very satisfying. The feeling of knowing where all the books are is amazing. My partner and I moved house in 2001, and didn't put our books in any order for several years. When we finally got around to it, I realised that a load had been lifted from my mind: the strain of not knowing where to look for a particular book was subtle but undeniable!

So I say it's probably more important to have a system than to have a particular system. I wouldn't group by colour myself, because that's not how I remember books - but I kind of wish it were now, because it'd look so pretty :-)

[Laura]

The books in my bedroom are arranged by color, and I love the way it looks! My cookbooks are grouped by subject matter - bread cookbooks together, cakes and desserts together, Mexican cookbooks, Italian, Indian, and other regions together, vegetarian, meats and casseroles, etc. History is shelved chronologically; fiction alphabetically by author's last name.

At any time, though, a book may not be tidily in its place (we have a lot of books), but we can usually find it, and will almost always come across other treasures while searching for it!

[Verity]

Wonderful. I am a librarian who follows your blog...

I would say you have to organise your books how you will find them - for me that is alphabetically by fiction and the rest sort of sorted into categories.

[Bullwinkle]

How do you find books if you arrange them by color? (Lovely time suck there, btw.)

That said :) I've got the cookbooks arranged by the volcano filing system. As we head into baking season, the seasonal books will rise to eye level.

The knit books: EZ has her own shelf. (Which she now shares with her daughter.) The rest are sorted by size and color and use and type (stitch dictionaries, for example.) That means it is a well consulted jumble.

The man's technical books are his problem. (He's been allocated space so that they may not overwhelm the house. He may not overrun his space.)

Everything else is arranged by the resident felines. (Somewhat akin to leaving them on the floor, except they get moved around a bit.)

[Rebecca]

Oh Jane, my heart beats a little faster at the thought of organising those books, although a mainly untidy person, I do rather like placing books on shelves. My preference would be as Verity as laid out above, alphabetical for fiction, categories for the others, but some books should be grouped together for maximum pleasure, for example, all those dove grey Persephones should be grouped together with an d'objet at the end. Likewise I arrange my cookery books for attractiveness rather than ease of use! I definitely break the shelves up with other things of interest although sadly my family see these spaces on the shelves as places to dump whatever happens to be in their hands at that time.

Your post took me back to when I read that Nick Hornby book many years ago, the one with the guy who obsessively categorizes his record collection. Go on start enjoying it, come to think of it, I bet you get get a quilt out of those books?

[Rebecca]

and I apologise for the appalling sentence constructions above, I do hope you can manage to read it! I really should read these things over before pressing the button....

[Susan D]

Okay, have to jump in too.

I sort roughly by category and type. Canadian authors here, 20th c. Brit authors there, memoirs and bios cluster together (I think all those lives need to keep each other company). Cookbooks in the kitchen, quilt books in the quilt room. And of course, there are exceptions. Jane and Charlotte and Charlotte's sisters have their own shelf. D. E. Stevenson has TWO bookcases all to herself.

But as others have said, the books need to be where you know you can find them.

[Catherine]

I'm also a librarian, and like Verity, I do fiction alphabetically (more or less) and then sections for the different books. Cookbooks have a home all their own.... I'm considering doing sci-fi and mystery sections, and I have a children's section.

(Another Catherine)

[Elizabeth]

I organize by approximate subject area - cookbooks, non-fiction, fiction, etc. with certain authors together or certain series in the same area. One of these days though I'm going to fully classify my entire library and use one of the free programs available to create my own library catalog. (Why yes, I am a librarian...why do you ask?)

[Ivy]

Fiction and non get separated. Fiction alphabetically by author. Poetry in its own section. Cookbooks separated out and in or near the kitchen. Other books by category -- those categories needing to make sense to no one but ourselves. As an exception, large books go on the bottom shelf no matter what.

Good luck! I love sorting books.

[Helen]

Just found this article

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8264572.stm

- thought it might be of interest to you. Bookshelves are obviously a hot topic!

[Jane]

We moved 20+ floor to ceiling bookcases full when we moved house last year (lack of space for more shelves was one of the reasons for moving). Ours are sorted alphabetically within subject(and within period for husbands extensive literature collection)but it's oversized ones that always cause problems. Chaos ensues if someone goes on a buying spree and shelves overflow! Craft and cookbooks live all over the house in odd places. Sorting books is quite enjoyable, but CDs drive me mad!

[Jane]

Sorry I meant alphabetically by author's surname. :)

[Julie]

I have mine sorted into fiction, non-fiction, and cookbooks; then, alphabetically (either by author or title); then, by publication date (that might be taking it a little too far, though).

[strikkelise]

Oh, I feel for you. This is why I hate moving (and I have moved a lot of times). We still have books in the attic from our last move, waiting for the right shelf.

I think there is no single best way to sort books. Ours are sorted (when they are sorted, that is), by a number of different categories, like subject(gardening, history, cookbooks, nature handbooks), favourite authors, one section for crime novels, biographies, bigger books, and so on. Hardbacks and paperbacks are kept together if they belong together subjectwise.

[Sheila]

My husband and I have our PhDs and three children, which means we live in a book-stuffed house, not to mention his book-lined campus office. It's hard to donate books because who is to say they will ever be appreciated again. So we started selling some of our books--never the children's books!--on amazon. I love knowing each book we sell is going to someone who wants it. We make a little money but feel we are part of some sort of book-loving "gift economy."

[Tracy]

Former librarian here. I shelve my fiction alphabetically by author, then everything else is grouped into categories. I have books in almost every room, so I put appropriate books in the most logical room. Parenting books in my bedroom (because guests don't care to browse those), cook books near my kitchen, coffee table type books in the living room, the children's books in the playroom, and all the rest go in the room we have made into our library.

[abby]

I've moved the book "The Art of the Tart" twice (once across the US), but still never cooked from it. I think I just find the title amusing...

[Ali]

If you come across the perfect system, please let me know. We have failed to find a foolproof one and we're a bookshop!

And cookery books are the world's worst for trying to section in a coherent way. You try mentally shelving 'Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer' in a bookshop. See what I mean?

[Julie]

As librarians my husband and I go by categories and then what makes sense for that particular category, i.e. time period for history, alphabetical for SF/Fantasy and most used for cookbooks. A few things do have to be sorted by size becasue the bookcases have set shelves. When we moved we had the movers in gales of laughter at the labels on the boxes such as:
Science Fiction A-B, living room. Relgion and Philosophy small bookcase; bedroom.
They laughed but it did mean as I unpacked I could grab a box and know where to go with it.

[Melissa A.]

Because you have so many books, I would first sort them by fiction/non-fiction and go from there. By genre next, and then by author's last time. That's quite simple without having to actually catalogue them ;) The inside cover will give you the subject classification if you want to go by that.

[Erin]

Here is an example of shelving both vertically and horizontally, with some other objects worked in. This bookshelf contains fiction and is categorized by American, English & Irish, French,Russian, etc, though you may be able to see a slim hardback book that worked its way in, "Garden Mosaics". BTW, the Hello Kitty figures were there temporarily. :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22393601@N05/3953085827/

[Susan]

Chiming in from another librarian. I absolutely agree with Verity..

Organize them how you think you can find them. When you're looking for a book, what's the first thing you think about? The color of the cover? The size? The author? The topic? For me it's the topic, unless it's fiction, then it's the author. But what works for one may not work for someone else. The problem with classification systems in libraries is that it has to be designed so that everyone might be able to understand.

It's your library; you're the only one who has to find things!

[Kim]

I am a librarian but don't use Dewey at home. I sort by subject ie cooking and by subject (or type if you will) within the subject ie muffins, cookies, indian, italian, vegetarian etc. It works for me! Good luck with your sorting.

[Gemma]

Well mine are done by colour. Which looks lovely but is a tad inconvenient for finding anything! They've been like it for a year now and Gareth is now trying to convince me we need to go back to something more traditional. Boooo!

[Janet Moore]

Yet another librarian now retired, I use a-z for fiction authors and for poets, arranged on separate shelves. Other books are grouped according to categories,e.g all the sewing/crafts/textiles in my sewing room/library, while the most used cookbooks are in the kitchen, the rest, including some very old ones, on their own shelves elsewhere, arranged roughly by subject, although if there is a large collection by one author, those are all kept together. My husbands books on horology and railways are in his workroom. So really the arrangements are where are the books most likely to be found quickly and easily by the person wanting to use them. The only room in the house we don't have any books stored is the bathroom ( not yet anyway), as its rather on the small side and too damp. I'm not sure about Ann Fadiman's almagamation of her and her husbands' libraries - sounds like a lot of hard work for rather dubious rewards - it worked for them in a presumably single story loft in New York, but in a suburban house with lots of rooms?

[Darci]

mine are most used/least used, then catagory, then vertically and horizontally. Lit books are by genre and author

[Nicole]

What a lovely problem to have...

As I am about to move my book-filled apartment myself, I read the comments with interest -- but I think now there might be too many librarians in the library!

Best of luck -- I am certain that your solution will be both practical and beautiful (and not necessarily in that order)

[Mary de B]

Every comment I read, suggesting a different way to organise them, makes perfect sense. Good luck!

I'd put cookbooks near the kitchen, novels near the comfy chair, knitting books by the bed (because that's where my knitting books have always been). I'd love to have a shelf of beautiful old Penguins, but I have the Penguin Classics with black covers, not as interesting to look at.

[Ponytail]

Another librarian, but I'm going to buck the trend and say file your fiction by colour and then size. If you know you have a book on your shelves, you'll always find it eventually, no matter the system. However, filing by colour forces you to look through books you may not have thought about for a long time.
And I just like the way it looks on the shelf...(but woe betide the next doctor that comes into the library asking me for 'that blue book on paediatrics I borrowed two years ago' !)

[Lesley M]

This is so exciting seeing how many librarians read your blog.
Yet another one here (oh dear you say).
I think that if you know what books you have and look at a fair few of them fairly often, you will probably know where they are. So at home, even with a large collection, it doesn't matter too much.
I work in a small library - an independent school library - and there are a lot of books I can find just because I know them.
And you'll probably want to reorganise them again one rainy day in a year or 2......

[ruth singer]

i find the floor is a handy storage space. I've been taught cataloguing even... but yet, somehow it's better if books live in themeatic piles which make sense to you, if not to anyone else.

[Maria]

We've been married 9 years & never had all our books with us. Some are at our parents' places, some in storage, some with us, some less with us but still about. I love dewy-ordering but he likes the whereever I last put it if only I could remember system. We've mostly compromised on themes - Iceland, Faulkner, history,Chalet School, languages, latin & greek, best favorites, next best favorites, pretty covers from Persephone & Vintage & Penguin on the front. It even works sometimes

[catherine]

Another librarian - obviously I have to comment on this post. I've also opted generally for a-z by author for fiction, then sections for everything else. I love the colour idea, but the librarian gets the better of me! I like having my most-used cook books close to the kitchen. Unread books are stacked on my bedside table, a pile which seems to grow and grow...

[cindy]

I'm almost a librarian...... what everyone is saying makes complete sense. I would just add that, weeding your collection of books every 6 months really does keep it tidy. Sell the less loved or unused ones online. (Or what ever your criteria might be) Because really it is just like a knitting or quilting stash. Use it or eventually give it away.......
And I also have an art background. Don't be afraid to dump all the sensible ideas AND GO FOR COLOR.

[Karen]

Oh I don't envy you that task. However I go along with thematic, different relevant books in the relevant rooms. Cookery - Kitchen, Nature - conservatory, Novels - near your sofa, wine - dining room. Good luck!

[Ms B. Thrift]

Teehee a subject after my own heart as I am a Librarian also :)
Wow, you've put a lot of effort in to this, i think you deserve to be bestowed an honorary librarian award of some kind for sure! Obviously we have the Dewey system at work, then alphabetical for fiction... but maybe you could find some handy way of dividing each section out, maybe make your own little mini dividers and then put them roughly in subject order (as this is really how the Dewey system works- subject such as Past-times, then sub catagorise so all the sewing is together, then gardening, then cooking, etc and can even sub-catagorise in those, e.g all the cajun cook books together, all the celeb cook books together etc etc)
Honestly though, the non-conformist in me rebels in my own home and my bookshelf is indicatively random!

[Amy]

LOL! For some reason this cracked me up! Good luck with your sorting!

[Rachel]

I've really enjoyed reading all of these comments, gosh we are all a bit obsessive (me included) aren't we?
I do different things in different rooms depending. For instance in the kitchen cookery books are arranged ina combination of size & how frequently I use them. In my study academic books are pretty well organised by category. Gardening are in the conservatory, art etc in my workroom by category. Where it all goes wrong is in fiction; originally they were grouped in a vague arrangement of authors & genre eg all the Viragos together. However I got fed up (& forgetful)& never seemed to have the space to return a book to where I originally got it from. Now my system consists of piles in front of the shelves.
Oh, & of course all shelves in all areas have the newer books shoved in horizontally on top the the existing ones as I can never bear to get rid of a book & seem to acquire new ones faster than shelves can be built..

[Rae Grant]

Leave them on the floor- it is more artistic and spurs spontaneous perusals.

[JulieKP]

I would love to plop myself down and start in on all those books. I would be happy for days, if not longer, sitting there.

I will tell you my tried and true technique for arranging books. I put them all on the shelves and eventually I remember where they are. I know it's not very helpful but it works for me.

By they way, I showed Meryl and Gerry your book while they were visiting this summer. They had no idea you had even written one never mind several! They were amazed at the connection that we had found. The internet makes this a very small world.

[magsmcc]

I'm a part-time librarian and I'm voting for the floor. Haven't seen my bedroom carpet in quite some time...