How to Make a Personal Library at Home

If you’ve got more than a dozen books lying around the house, it’s time to start your own personal library. Even if your books all live on bookshelves, if you can’t find them quickly you need to set up a personal library system. Forget the Dewey Decimal System of a traditional library. Set up the personal library that suits you personally.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Bookshelves
• Books

1. Start by purchasing several bookshelf units if you don’t already have some in your home. If you only have a few books, you may only need one bookshelf unit. If needed, assemble the shelves.
2. Divide your books into two stacks; fiction and non-fiction.
3. Think about how you would most likely search for a fiction book on the shelf. Would it be by title or by author? Sort the fiction books by the method of your choice and place the books on the shelves in order.
4. Order the non-fiction by subject and then title in alphabetical order. This will make finding the book you need simple and easy.

Tips & Warnings

• If you collect authors, try putting their books in the order they were written. It will tell you at a glance which books you don’t have.
• Cookbooks generally will get more use if put on a shelf in the kitchen. If needed, get a desktop book rack to put the cookbooks in an unused section of your counter.
• If you buy modular bookshelf units, more sections can be added as your library grows.
• Buy children their own bookshelves for their rooms. Help them set up a system that works for them.
• Paperback books store better horizontally on the shelf. This keeps them from becoming warped or bent. Vertical is fine if books are packed tightly on the shelves.