I buy a book, I read the book, I take the book to the library and stuff it in the return slot. I buy ten books, I read ten books, I take ten books to the library and stuff them all in the return slot.
Sometimes I give books to other people who might be interested. I learned long ago that when you loan most people books, they will never be returned. Some few references I used to keep for a while before disposing of in the library slot, but since the internet has all of that material, I stopped accumulating it. Anybody with an internet connection who buys a reference book today is a fool.
I like books, I just don’t like STORING them or MOVING them.
I may go so far as to invest in a Kindle or similar reader some day, and then I might accumulate virtual books. They don’t need shelves, they take up a lot less space and are much easier to move.
Physical books, magazines, newspapers and records are obsolete.
Once upon a time my mom and dad bought a bunch of books and records at an estate sale. They thought they had bought hundreds. They ended up with tens of thousands. All manner of old magazines, 78 RPM records, books, catalogs for early 20th century electronics suppliers… 30 years later, my dad still has every one of them. When he moved, he piled the boxes up on a trailer and made trip after trip to KEEP those boxes.
Now, I don’t personally doubt that there are treasures in that huge, impassible mound of boxes of books slowly decaying in his 3,000 square foot, 25 foot high steel barn. As I have pointed out to him, it would cost $75,000 to build a second steel building the size of the one he has stuffed with this junk. I doubt the books and records total $75,000 in value. Who knows how many times people ‘cherry picked’ that collection before mom & dad got it. At least one time since.
Overall, I don’t think it would be worth it to take YEARS out of my life to try to properly sift the treasures from the trash. When my dad dies, my brothers and I have discussed it, and we will get a VERY big dumpster, and have an auction. Whatever it is, you must take the WHOLE box. After you have bought it, you can try to trade things among yourselves. When you’re done, throw whatever is left in the dumpster or carry it out with you. Maybe you have a trendy bar and you want LPs, 45s and 78 RPM records to wallpaper and glue to the walls. Maybe you want to pave your driveway with leather bound ‘classics’ and 100 old encyclopedias with 24 out of 27 volumes. I frankly don’t care. It is basically too big a heap of things in too poor condition to be a ‘collector’ problem. It is a SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT problem.
This is just one of those anti-lessons you learn from your parents. How NOT TO do something. The very thought of hoarding and warehousing junk of this sort is appalling to me.
So, all in all, I wouldn’t burn or otherwise destroy a decent book, but I won’t preserve it any more than I would preserve old newspapers. I am not a frickin’ archive or library. If nobody else wants it, I certainly don’t want it, either. I promptly rid myself of reading material that I have already read.
Cherishing a book is one thing, but being crushed to death under an unstable mound of books you’ve collected is quite another. You have to draw the line somewhere.
