Top Ten Tips - Building A Personal Library
By Tip Diva | Feb 15, 2008
Categories: Activities, Amazon.com, Books, Cheap, Free, Fun, Half.com, Home, Online Auctions, Selling, Shopping, Stores, Tips, Websites, eBay
Tip Diva loves reading and one day dreams of a house lined with shelves and shelves of books. She’s started to acquire quite a collection of her favorite books, and here’s how you, too, can build your own personal library:
- Make A List Of Books You Have And Want - Make a check list of both books you have and books you want for your library, whether specific or by type. Check off the list as you get the books you want, or make a list of the books as you acquire them. This helps remind you of what you want and avoid duplicates.
- Decide Whether You Want New Or Used Books - Some people prefer new books for their personal libraries; some like used. Others, like Tip Diva, don’t care either way. Just know what you’re looking for and what kind of budget you have. Buying new will cost you exponentially more, and you may not get as many books as you want.
- Find Discounted Books Online - Whether you’re looking for new or used books, eBay, Half.com and Amazon offer great discounts compared to bookstores. You can even find books for free at PaperbackSwap.com. But even bookstores have great deals. Barnes & Noble always has a significant clearance section, and books are always cheaper if you’re a member.
- Check Your Local Library - Many public libraries sell books that they don’t need or have to many of - and at very good prices. Check to see if yours has books for sale - you’ll be surprised at what you can find.
- Check Out Garage Sales - Garage sales are also a great place to find a plethora of super-affordable reading material. And usually, a particular tag sale has books running along the same type of genre.
- Have Enough Bookshelves - What good are books that sit in boxes? Make sure you have enough bookshelves or space for your new library. You can find cheap shelving at an office supply store, or Target. Or even try building your own.
- Personalize Your Books - Make books your own by writing your name, putting in stickers or bookplates, or even embossing them.
- Organize - If you’d like, organize your new library. Tip Diva likes hers by genre, but you may prefer to do them by type or author.
- Decide How To Loan Books - If you loan books, decide ahead of time which ones you’ll let someone borrow. Tip Diva has books that never leave her shelf, and others she doesn’t mind lending. But one thing that annoys the heck out of her is when the books don’t get returned. Now, she has “sign-out” book made from a marble notebook to remind her who has what book.
- Get Rid Of Books You Don’t Want - Give yourself space for new books by getting rid of the ones you don’t want. Try selling them on eBay, Half.com, Amazon and PaperbackSwap.com, unloading them at a garage sale or donating them to a local school or library.
How did you build your personal library?
Other Tips To Check Out:
