Should I sell my books?

Another view. My husband and I happily downsized most of our possessions, including nearly all our books three years ago so we could be free spirits and travel. Truly, our books were the most difficult to part with. Such pangs while we packed them up, especially our college books from long ago. Once the downsizing deeds were done, we felt incredibly free and took off. No regrets about giving up anything. Except . . . recently we visited the family of a friend who had died. He was a major reader his entire life. His family had turned the his office into a wonderful guest room, but left all the books and music. As I lay there, I thought: "This is X's mind, right here in this room. He read all of these books and listened to all of this music." So books are not just books; they're your life.

I'm 70 and still open some of my old college text books. There must be a high school kid in your vicinity who would love to make a few bucks carting your books out to the car and into the new place. A minor expense if you think there is any use for these books in the next ten years.

FWIW, I recently moved back to Michigan from Wisconsin, and went the "free spirit" route with pretty much everything I owned.... furniture, appliances, my stereo, and.. my books. I gave most everything away to friends as gifts. I kept just one box of books, and gave away the other 1,000 or so. I don't have too many regrets in life, but I really wish I would have kept my books. Yes, a lot of them can be re-purchased or are at the library, but the fact that they were in my den, available at anytime was invaluable. Many were work-related type material (I am an auto mechanic) but there was just a lot of cool books I had amassed over the years. I mean, one friend was ecstatic when I bestowed upon him the complete collection of Hunter S Thompson's work, and another was happy to get 17 Bukowski books, but I REALLY wish I would have kept them all. I gave all of my records and CD's and movies away as well, and that doesn't bother me in the least. As a mechanic, I sold off a lot of my tools at rock-bottom prices, and even that doesn't bother me. But I realize now that a personal library, especially one that has a large section devoted to your trade, is invaluable, and I feel that a year or two from now, you'll look back at the time when you were thinking about getting rid of your library and tell yourself how glad you are that you didn't.

Selling to a used book dealer, whether local or Powell's, will get you a fraction of their value. I say keep 'em.

When I moved a few years ago I did a pretty brutal book sort. Book hoarding had become a bad habit. My new resolve started with a Kindle. My Kindle is for recreational fiction, trendy non-fiction and sampling. I now buy (only hardcover) books with these questions in mind: Is it a well made, well written book? Does it add to one of my little sub collections? Will it transcend time? Will my children or grandchildren appreciate owning this book someday? Put your books into categories. What books are friends with what other books? You'll see which are superfluous. I learned a lot about myself once I sorted out the book wheat from the book chaff. Apparently, I'm very, very interested in the history of food cultivation.

With 'loads of slipped discs' you shouldn't be lifting ANY boxes. Sort them out, keep the ones you feel anxious about abandoning. That might very well be all of them. Make an inventory, pack them up in mailing boxes and ship them media mail to your new address. Use a pick up service. Hide them somewhere in your new place, unpacked. If you don't think about them for a year or so, donate the lot to your public library, local jail, high school, community college, etc.

I love books but I agree that "I might need it someday" is a myth. I used to think I should hang on to clothes that I wore when I was skinnier hoping that I will lose weight. If I do, I can get more clothes. I think when doing any kind of purge, it helps to set a date or a number, like I'm going to get rid of clothes I haven't worn in a year or 20 books. It's arbitrary but it helps me focus and it's like any other kind of goal in that I'm pretty pleased with myself when I hit it. Another perspective - my mother was a librarian. When she died, we didn't think her books were her life. We celebrated her with the people she loved - that's her life. The books were just souvenirs. Since my mother died, my father got rid of most of her books and our home is homier. He replaced bookshelves with pictures of us. Those aren't at Barnes and Noble. There's also a quantity vs. quality argument to be made here. You can assess how much room you really have for the books and get rid of everything else. How much can you possibly value the books that are sitting in a box in the garage? I recently bought a desk with shelves so I've gotten rid of books recently. The books that are on the shelves are the books that I *really* love or *really* intend to read. Now when I'm going somewhere, I don't have to go through all of my books, I can just grab one. And don't tell my husband, but the books that didn't make the cut are ones I can probably toss. I think people so idealize books to the point of irrationality when it comes to parting with them. I also think my mother's book collection was an example of hoarding behavior. Hoarders can't make value judgments. They can't say, I like this better than that. Don't fall into that trap. If you do, I know it's a cliche but the things you own will start to own you.

Can you donate them to a local library? That way, they will always be available if you need one. It's not common for members of the public to donate to local public libraries in the UK - I've never heard of it being done.

If you lived near a university, you could be using their library instead of your personal collection. To live in the country, and to have the intellectual life you want, you need your collection. Can you rent a garage or a room somewhere to store your library?