When I moved to Washington, DC, it was not going to be permanent; after seven years it seems to be permanent. In that time, I have significantly reduced my possessions through necessity and a change in mindset - I have become a minimalist. I am not a hardcore minimalist like The Minimalists or Joshua Becker, but I have moved in that direction and prefer living with fewer possessions.
I still struggle with books. In both of my DC apartments I have lived within walking distance of a library branch where I can have anything from the entire system delivered for pick-up, which means accessing books for free and returning them so they do not need to be stored in my living space. But, as I said in this post, COVID-19 has changed my relationship with reading and affected my book purchasing habits.
My questions are: Can I call myself a minimalist if I still buy books? AND Can I keep the books I already have and those I have bought recently?
I think the answer to both of these is YES!
I have read the work of the minimalists mentioned above as well as Marie Kondo (she is less a minimalist and more of a clean up and clean out guru) but all agree that minimalism does not require one to rid oneself of ALL possessions, and definately not those that bring joy. Additionally, they also discuss that minimalism does not look the same for everyone.
When I first moved, I brought books I had not yet read and some of my favorites. At the time I had two tall IKEA Billy bookcases in white with 5 shelves on each. I like the white because they make the colorful covers pop. (I do not arrange my books by color, but by genre and then alphabetically by author. I am a librarian after all.) I bought the skinny bookcases because I thought they would be more flexible for arranging in small apartments. I was right and now have 4 book cases. Soon, I am moving to a slightly bigger apartment and am thinking about getting a fifth shelf.
Currently, the shelves hold books I have not yet read, some decorative items, and beloved books, such as my fifteen copies of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (I like to collect copies from different years and publishers. Some are illustrated, others have beautiful covers. They make me smile.) With a fifth shelf I will be able to bring more of my most favorite books out of storage.
When I initially moved I was able to leave my books in place where I had been living. When the move turned from temporary to permanent I invited over a few friends, poured some wine, ordered pizza, and hosted a packing party. At that time I thought it made sense to separate the books into categories:
- Keep
- Try to sell
- Give to friends
- Donate
I made sure to invite friends who are also book people so they would be supportive and not too critical about my book decisions. I reduced the number of books to keep to a few hundred rather than the many hundreds I started with. MANY were donated to the local public library. One of the helpful friends took quite a few to read and has been passing them along when finished.
When deciding what to keep I asked myself 3 questions:
- Will I want to refer back to this title enough times to justify keeping it?
- Will this book be valuable to others, to whom I can lend it, but then get back (hopefully)?
- Is this a book by an author I love, whose books I buy before or soon after publication and will keep in my collection?
This situation aside, I try to be discerning about the books I buy, asking the same three questions I used for deciding the fate of my formerly large collection. But sometimes I mis-judge and buy a book I then decide not to keep. In those cases, I:
- try to sell them online to Powell's, which earns me credit for buying other books. Yes, ironic I know.
- give them to someone who may want to read a specific title and ask them to pass it on to someone else.
- donate to the public library for their monthly sale (currently on hold).
- place them in a nearby Little Free Library.
I know my methods won't work for everyone, minimalist or not, but you might find my philosophy helpful.
I am looking forward to the day I live someplace big enough, hopefully with some built in bookcases, to hold all my books.
How do you decide if a book should become part of your collection?
