Organizing Books

I have lots of books (ones I use and reread) that I would like to be able to organize. How do you go about organizing your books. I have books for reference, cook books, novels, and non fiction. What is the best way to organize them, all together, alphabetically or by type?

Theresa

Answers:

Type and Subject

I organize my books first by general type: Cookbooks, etc. Then break that down into subtypes: Ethnic>Mexican (or whatever) then alphabetically by author. Same with reference or any other sort of book.. Make sure you have easiest access to those books you do use a lot. (05/31/2001)

By Alekscat the frugal feline in Richmond, VA

Organizing Books

I have lots and lots of books, in every room of the house. I organize my books in several ways. First, I put books nearest their place of use (except for most of the cookbooks which are in the dining room because I have a teeny, tiny kitchen). The reference books all go together in the hallway, the children's books are all in another hallway near their bedrooms, the DIY, gardening, mothering, household management and bird watching books are all in my bedroom and the school books are all in the school area (we homeschool).

Within each area, the books are then either sorted by title or by smaller subject. The cookbooks are divided into crockpot, easy, general and food storage sections. The children's books are divided into easy readers, science, people, baby books, and animals. The reference books are divided into dictionaries, atlases, foreign language, wildlife, and encyclopedias. The gardening books are divided into flowers and vegetables. Etc.

This has worked very well for us; books are close to where they are used (generally speaking) and organized enough to make finding things quickly but not have to spend a lot of time keeping each book in its exact spot. (The children's books are the most loosely 'organized' for obvious reasons!) (05/31/2001)

By Jennifer Raffety

By Subject, Then Author

I have hundreds of books myself. What I do, is separate by topic, then place in alphabetical order by author. If I want a mystery by Patricia Cornwall, it's in the mystery section under C [this also makes it easier to check for dupes.] My cookbooks are grouped together by topics and/or types of cooking. Your standard [Betty Crocker, McCalls], special Authors [Emeril, Julia Child], type of cooking [BBQ Chinese, crockpot, Dessert, French, microwave], and the rest just in alphabetical order. I also keep the paperbacks and hardbacks separated, but grouped in the same order as above. (05/31/2001)

By KayD

Non-fiction by Subject, Fiction by Author

I have volunteered in a public library and set up two church libraries and a private school library. It would make the most sense to organize your non-fiction books by subject. You will find that when looking for a particular cookbook, you will automatically go to the cookbook section. Once they are organized by subject, the next step would be by title.

The fiction books, in a home library, would be easier to access if they were arranged by author first and then by title. However, if you have any books that are in a series, arrange them in number order. I have a lot of fiction as well as mystery books. I have all the fiction together and a separate section for mystery. I have a third section for the westerns that my husband reads. By having all of my books organized this way, I can find whatever I want very quickly without having to search. (05/31/2001)

By Betty in Oregon

Organizing Cookbooks

All Cookbooks should be in the Kitchen organized by Topic. Microwave Cookbooks should be together, Crockpot/Slow cooker books together, etc. If you want to organize them by Authors, that's fine, but not necessary.

As for the other books, I agree: Topic, then alphabetized by Authors. (11/25/2004)

By Nelda Fairley