Books.
Books.
More Books.
What do you do with books you’re done with?
Okay, so the quantity of books we have pales in comparison to some peoples’ collections – and all the same, going through them to winnow periodically is wise for us, and enjoyably cathartic.
Part of the fun is to recall what was valuable, refresh the meaning of the various books, and sometimes open them in the middle and re-read.
(Jackie Huba & Ben McConnell’s Creating Customer Evangelists is being re-read right now – it’s a goodie!)
So, if you’re a book-y like me, how do you sift and sort your collection?
How do you choose what stays and what goes?
Years ago Daniel Pink shared a helpful and clever way in one of his videos: take all the books off your shelf. THEN sort them, one by one – deciding what you will return to the shelf, vs what you remove from the shelves.
When you’ve invested the energy and time to remove one by one first, then choose what is you invest more energy in replacing on the shelf, there’s a different response.
Recently me and My Fine Husband have been digging into cosmetic renovation in our home. Painting is one of those tasks including our cozy library where most of our books live.
Prepping it to paint, we removed wallpaper.
In removing the wallpaper, some drywall was ripped.
Short story (!!) is that MFH learned how to skimcoat to repair some places – and before we did that, we removed all the books.
Easier to remove them than wipe them all down after.
Once we got back to replacing the books, we reviewed them and VOILA! A few piles of books were now ready for new homes.
After checking with the local store that buys books, I still had a bunch.
What’d I do?
I sent pictures of the titles to a few client partners, and asked them if they wanted any.
BOOM.
Most were spoken for in a matter of 30 – 45 minutes.
What does all of this have to do with human connection?
1. Books connect us: when people are offered books, enthusiastic replies ensued.
2. When we read books, we have myriad topics to talk about. We love to talk about and share what we read.
3. Like an author friend told me, books are about learning new perspectives. New perspectives build common ground – vital for healthy human connection.
So the next time you have some books to rehome, ask your connections first. With props to J Jackson-Beckham for the idea kernel, those books are happily on their way to future readers ~
Read. Connect. Build common ground.
p.s. do tell – what are you reading right now?