2009.01.29
To Move the Books or Not to Move the Books...Silly Question
When you have more books than clothes, children’s toys, and dishes put together, how do you go about packing them up to move? I have found that starting with the books before anything else is a very satisfying way to go. You can do this early on in your plans to move and feel like you are accomplishing something. Packing them up first also prevents a person from getting into that last minute habit of throwing things into a box all willy nilly. You don’t want to do that with books. At least I don’t. Packing them first also allows you to use the best boxes you can find for them. And, packing them first also puts them out of mind when you decide that you have way too much stuff to fit into the new home and it is decided to start selling things or giving them away. This is how I have ended up with more books than anything else I own.
Curious about exactly the best manner to pack books, I went searching and found this advice from a moving company: “…it is a good opportunity to reevaluate the books you would like to transport. Keep in mind that books can be heavy and it will increase the weight of your load thus increasing your transportation cost. Consider selling some books at a yard sale, donating them to charity, or selling to a secondhand bookstore.” Shudder at the thought! Unless you are moving across the country and really need to weed out. The instructions were minimal though and not very helpful. How hard is it to pack books? This little article was fun to read and made me well aware that I am not alone: http://www.diylife.com/2007/08/10/packing-books-the-best-way/
It’s not very difficult to pack if you are just transporting across town, but what about long term storage?
I found this Frequently Asked Questions list that explains nicely about preserving books: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~preserve/html/faq.shtml but if you don’t feel like reading that and want to know what the Library of Congress has to say about storing books, click here: http://www.loc.gov/preserv/presfaq.html#1.
Got a funny book related moving story? Tell me about it!
Over the past 7 years, I've moved twice. Each time, I've learned to let go of a few books I really don't need.
But now that I live closer to my mother (the official lender of really good reads) I have a stack a mile high, that won't fit on a shelf, waiting for me to read. If I didn't do anything else, but read, I still don't think I could keep up. My husband will tell anyone, his mother-in-law can definitely dish these puppies out faster than I or anyone else could possibly read them.
As you might guess, my father enables my mother. He builds anything we need (and can fit in the back of his trailer or car) with wood. So, I've also acquired two new shelves over the past 7 years.
And to answer the age old question, "to move or not to move?" I would always say, move. Keep the books. Don't get rid of them unless you are never, NEVER going to read them or even skim through them from time to time. To me books can represent your past in many, many ways - like a scrapbook.
By the way, my husband is a chef and as much as he can find any recipe on the internet, he collects a growing amount of cookbooks too. At least half fill my kitchen and half are in his office at work. And I would point out this collection in defense of mine, except I really enjoy those books too.
I still think he's the pot calling the kettle black though.
Comment by Amy Hanek — January 29, 2009 @ 9:09 am
I recently moved, and had to pack up a ridiculous amount of books as well!
Here are my tips:
- use small boxes; you'll throw your back out trying to move a 12 gallon tote of books!
- sort your books largest to smallest first, and start w/ the largest at the bottom of each box
- use towels, blankets and other soft items that you would be moving anyway to fill up the empty spaces
My books all arrived safely...now I just have to unpack them...
Comment by Jessica — January 29, 2009 @ 9:17 am