# How many books do you own? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 19, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015 "2010-03-19T15:01:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/21 "2010-03-19T17:48:03Z")
I couldn’t guess. I have books everywhere in the house. I have been trying to get rid of them, but so many more come in. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/22 "2010-03-19T17:49:32Z")
\> 10,000. My home has two libraries, one with 10 foot high built-in bookshelves, and a rolling ladder that lets me get up to the upper shelves. The other library has 8 floor to ceiling bookcases, some of which are double-packed with paperbacks. The master bedroom has built-in bookshelves for those books I want to keep handy there. 😉 I really need to thin the collection. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/23 "2010-03-19T17:55:45Z")
Wow! \> 10,000 books? Here I was thinking my collection of more than 1,000 would be close to the top. I was wrong Envy envy envy… We are renovating our mountain home and one of the rooms now dedicated as a library is going to be repurposed. I made it a priority that my books would have a place to be available and climate controlled. So, the same outbuilding that will become the computer lab (and my office) will also have a dedicated suite for the library. This is going to be a great year! New computer lab (with a new computer) and a whole new library room! ---
**Author:** ![SylverOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/24 "2010-03-19T18:05:02Z")
I easily have close to 1000 books, and those are the ones I’ve chosen to keep. I’ve probably garage saled, or donated close to that many as well. I scavenge thrift shops and old bookstores on a regular basis and I get a bit nauseated when I mentally add up my Barnes and Noble habit. They are all stored neatly in rubbermaid tubs. I keep a tub in the spare room that I put all the finished books in and when it gets full, it goes out to the garage. About once a year, I drag them all out, paw though them, get them organized, set some aside for a re-read, gather some for donations, (though work, we send a lot of books to our military in Iraq and Afghanistan), then put them all away again. I love my books. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/25 "2010-03-19T18:05:10Z")
I don’t measure my book collection by volumes (number of books), but by volume (number of cubic feet). I have a rather large storage shed that is almost completely full of books, and I have books in every room in the house. I have far more books than I have bookshelf space, so I have to pack some of them up in boxes, which is where the storage shed comes in handy. I rotate the boxes in and out of the house, so it’s like diving into a treasure chest when I bring a box into the house. Sometimes I can bear to sell or give books away, but I know that for the most part, I won’t be able to find those old SF/fantasy books again, though with eBay and Amazon that’s become less of an issue. I have lots and lots of books, in other words. Most of the walls in my house have bookshelves, and most of those bookshelves are overflowing with books. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/26 "2010-03-19T18:08:09Z")
I consider myself a library user rather than a book owner. I go to the library once a week, and I feel like I rarely buy books. And yet I just walked through the house doing rough counts of what’s on the shelves, then looked in the attic at the ones that are boxed, and found I am comfortably in the 1000 to 1999 range. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/27 "2010-03-19T18:10:58Z")
**Quaddy** , you adopting? ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/28 "2010-03-19T18:11:47Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My home has two libraries I think I love you. I want to have a dedicated library but I’ve never had the space. I was going to turn one of my bedrooms into a library with built in shelves but I already converted the small bed room into an office and I don’t think a one bedroom 2000 sqft house will sell worth a damn. Oh well, once I have a permanent home I’ll get to do all the weird things. Right now I have four 5’x3’ and one 7’x3’ bookcase full and about 5-6 moving boxes that I never had room to unpack full of books. I’d guess I’m slightly over 500. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/29 "2010-03-19T18:15:01Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > **Quaddy** , you adopting? Not people who use unnecessary U’s. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/30 "2010-03-19T18:15:53Z")
Somewhere around 300 or 400 at a guess, which isn’t _nearly_ enough. I won’t be satisfied until I’ve accumulated enough books to cause a fairly serious distortion in L-space. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/31 "2010-03-19T18:16:54Z")
I’m somewhere in the 100-249 range, but I used to have a lot more. In my last two moves I sold/donated tons of stuff. The strange thing is, nowadays I find myself going back and trying to find some of the books I got rid of. In the last year I’ve probably spent a couple hundred bucks re-aquiring things that I gave to libraries or sold for a pittance at garage sales or used book stores. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/32 "2010-03-19T18:17:54Z")
I tend to measure the book collection by linear feet of shelf space, rather than by number of books. The Fantasy/SF section alone is now in excess of 72 feet, and I’m sure it is less than half of the total books in the house. Heck, my one-year-old probably has more than 100 books. My six-year-old received 37 books (with no duplicates!) for her birthday last week alone. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/33 "2010-03-19T18:25:24Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] My home has two libraries, one with 10 foot high built-in bookshelves, and a rolling ladder that lets me get up to the upper shelves. [/QUOTE] We’ve got one library with 9 foot bookshelves and if I want to reach the top I’ve got to hike a pant leg, grab a support and pull myself up. I should have been a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/34 "2010-03-19T18:37:18Z")
Wow, dopers like to read! I thought I had a great deal but it looks like I’m just a piker at about 500. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/35 "2010-03-19T19:18:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > **Quaddy** , you adopting? I was going to ask if he was looking for a second wife. But the deal only applies if the library with the rolling ladder is part of his dowry. (Wanders off to ponder which room I can sacrifice to create a library. We don’t really need a bathroom do we?) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/36 "2010-03-19T19:45:41Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > One of my hobbies is collecting certain first editions. I have all of Stephen King’s trade first hardback editions, and many of the signed limited releases as well. I also collect books from Arkham House publishing. So there’s about 400 books or so on those shelves. Then add the various other hardbacks and paperbacks, and it comes up to something around 700 total. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Darn! If you were in Gainesville, Florida, I’d ask to come over and see. Do you collect also? If you have a cool collection in similar tastes, shoot me a PM. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/37 "2010-03-19T19:48:28Z")
I’d guess three or four hundred. Kinda dwarfed by my DVD collection though (1000+) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![breaking-reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@breaking-reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaking-reality)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/38 "2010-03-19T19:48:36Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My home has two libraries, one with 10 foot high built-in bookshelves, and a rolling ladder that lets me get up to the upper shelves. It is my dream to have a room with floor to ceiling bookcases like this. If I were to walk into your library, I would likely not emerge for days. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/39 "2010-03-19T19:59:07Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > Do you collect also? If you have a cool collection in similar tastes, shoot me a PM. Nope, I have all the King books, but half of them are ratty-ass paperbacks picked up at thrift shops. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015/40 "2010-03-19T20:08:40Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > One of my hobbies is collecting certain first editions. I have all of Stephen King’s trade first hardback editions, and many of the signed limited releases as well. I also collect books from Arkham House publishing. So there’s about 400 books or so on those shelves. Then add the various other hardbacks and paperbacks, and it comes up to something around 700 total. > > I might have under-estimated, but I don’t think I’m over 1000. I collect firsts, too, but have not been active lately and, in fact, sold/traded a few either to fund important stuff like a kitchen remodel or to get a vintage guitar or two. Or three. 😉 I don’t have any Arkham (I think \*\*Exapno \*\*may, though) and I only have The Shining by King because that is my favorite by him. You sound like a Completist, whereas I am a High Spotter (different approaches to book collecting)… In terms of books, well, I have over-flowing shelves all over the house. Drives my wife crazy. Heck, the pile of about 30 books next to my bed drives my wife crazy. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-do-you-own/533015.md?page=3)