The Great Book Cataloging

So, I have begun in earnest to catalog my library.  I have tried this in the past, but I feel like now that my books are mine, and not my Mom's and sister's, that it's a better time to start this.  I am using the LibraryThing website and platform because I like the format and it's easy.  I can always download the data from the site to have a backup.  And I will be doing this periodically because I can't bear putting in all this work and then losing it all for some reason that the site dies.

This began from  talking with a friend about her impressive reading list on GoodReads (and the notebooks she's kept over the years), my desire to read more like the nerd I was in high school, and a massive influx of books from my local public library book sale.  And once you start cataloging something, you can't stop.  It drives you! The sense of organization amidst the chaos, the feeling of control over your collections.  And I like going through my titles and remembering what's there, adding some titles to my TO READ list so I get to them sooner rather than later.  Because in my head I do plan on reading all of these titles. Even the esoteric old history books I salvage from the discard piles at work.  They seem interesting.  I want to learn about that thing, event, people, topic, etc. I WANT TO READ ALL THE THINGS!!!!!

Ahem, sorry.  Back to the cataloging....

I am using this opportunity to also look at the books I have and decide if I want to keep them.  Some of this happened, on a smaller scale, when I moved out of my mother's house and when she subsequently moved away.  But you can't really ponder a title when you're moving - you need to make a snap decision and keep packing.  So I think it's a healthy pursuit I'm in.  Granted, the cull will not be many.  I know that already.  But I am thinking a little more about, "Will I really read this? Is this worth my shelf space?"
Part of this is due to the sources of my books over the years. I have my core collection that was acquired over years of book store, book sales, yard sales, etc.  I have SO MANY from my favorite used bookstore, which I have been patronizing for over twenty years.  I have all the "tribbles" from the sci-fi library I worked in in college (we kept two copies of titles - the triples seemed to multiply rapidly when we weren't looking - hence the name). And I worked in my college library for the gifts librarian, so I came home with a number from that gig.  Now, I work at a college library and often acquire books from the discard pile (often due to be recycled) or the shelf of donations that were rejected.  Sometimes these are the books I need to rethink the most.  I have a tendency to go for older books, and some are falling apart, or just not worth reading.  I just found one in German and can only assume that I picked it up because the print was really pretty.  I guess I planned on crafting with it?  I know that sounds like blasphemy to a book nerd, but it was slated to have the cover cut off and the paper recycled.  So, using it in art is still recycling it, in a way.  But I don't have time for that.  And since my used book shop won't take these old academic books that not even this book hoarder wants, I'll likely recycle some of them in the end.

Moments like that always make me remember Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.  I am a lover of books, of the physical objects of books.  But I am more a lover of knowledge, of story telling.  And it is always the content of books that matters.  So I am getting better at letting go of some of these physical items that are falling apart or useless to me because I know that the content lives on.  And if the content is outdated, then that book and it's knowledge has done it's part, and led to better information, and it's ok for it to rest in the paper pulper.

Of course, the down side of book cataloging is that I want to read them all right away.  So I am trying to utilize my GoodReads list for a more organized reading list.  And when I get through it a little more, I can add more of my other titles.  I know that I will never adhere to it strictly - I have ADD, and I will pick up something random and start reading it.  But it can help when I'm at a loss in the chaos of titles surrounding me.
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If you are reading this and want to play along in the reading game, then come find me on GoodReads. Links to my reading list are on the sidebar, as are links to my ongoing catalog project at LibraryThing.
I'll write another night about these sites, and the communities that spring up in them.  It's an interesting little corner of the internet and worth exploring intellectually.