With the KonMari Method®, the second category we tackle is books, and with my clients, I see a lot of variety with this category. I really enjoy helping people declutter books because I personally love books so much!
Wait, didn’t Marie Kondo say you can only keep 30 books?
Let’s get this one out of the way first – no, Marie Kondo never said this. She even told Jimmy Kimmel that she’s not sure where that rumor came from.
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met that have completely dismissed Marie Kondo based on this ridiculous (and inaccurate) meme. As with the ENTIRE KonMari Method, there is no magic number of items to keep in any category – keep what sparks joy for you. Marie’s personal library might be around 30 books; mine is closer to 1,300. And I have full confidence that Marie would support the size of my library because I have carefully curated my books (and regularly review them); I have intentionally kept each book with my vision in mind.
Phew! Now that we’re past that, let’s get down to the actual task and declutter books.
Why can’t I declutter books on the bookshelf?
To start you’ll want to get all of your books off the shelf so that you can sort them into sub-categories. Yes, take them off the shelves. They’re already sorted into sub-categories on the shelf? Great, that will make sorting them into sub-categories off the shelf go faster.
It’s important to physically take the books off the shelves (and out of the boxes, etc.) because moving your books around allows you to clearly see and connect with each volume. I get it – books can be heavy, they can be dusty, it sounds like a mess. But trust the process. Time and again my clients have expressed how much easier it was to make intentional decisions when their books are off the shelf for sorting.
Not only will the decluttering process benefit from taking your books off the shelves, but your organizing and storage efforts will be more informed as well. You’ll be able to move books around to where they work best for you, and you’ll have a much clearer idea on how much space you can dedicate to books.
How do I know what sparks joy when I declutter books?
Determining what sparks joy for you is a unique, personal decision. However, there are a few common themes I see people considering when they declutter books:
- Ability to Display/Store Books: If you have limited space, you may need to be more discerning in your decluttering. Or you may have plenty of space to store books, but they’re not your biggest priority and you’d rather save that precious shelf space for other items.
- Read vs. Unread Books: Lots of people have assumptions about keeping books based on if they’ve been read or not. Sometimes read status can be a consideration when decluttering, but there aren’t hard rules about that. You can keep a read book, even if you’re not planning on re-reading it. You can keep unread books. You can declutter a book that you were excited to read, but now it doesn’t sound interesting anymore. Which books support your vision for your life? Keep those!
- The “Should” Books: You know these books. You should have Shakespeare on your shelves. You should read these influential business books. You should own a dictionary, doesn’t everyone have a dictionary? To these I always say – remember your vision. If the book fits into your vision, if it sparks joy, then keep it. And let the rest go. Don’t hold onto these ideas of what “should” be on your bookshelves.
Storage and inventory tips from my personal library
Now that you’ve decluttered your books, how should you shelve them? Some people are really into the whole “shelving books by color” look. It’s a neat look from an interior design perspective, but how practical is it? If you want to be able to find your books easily, this is probably not the method for you (but if that’s not a priority, then rainbow away!).
Common ways to group books are by sub-category (novels, cookbooks, biographies & memoirs, etc.) or alphabetically by author or title. How do YOU think about your books? That’s how you should store them. Personally, I have a lot of books, so I want mine by subject matter and alphabetical by author within those sub-categories. That’s how the Library of Congress Call Number system works, so that’s how my books are organized.
If you have a lot of books like me, it may be helpful to keep an inventory. Not only does this make it easier to know what you have on your shelves (ever bought a book you already own?), but it also makes it a lot easier to use a system like call number for organizing. There are a variety of inventory tools and apps you can use. I’ve been using LibraryThing since 2008 and recommend it to anyone who finds joy in keeping a larger collection of books. For the curious, you can check out my personal library on LibraryThing.
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