Start By Sorting Books Alphabetically

My solution has four facets:

1. First, go through and alphabetize your books according to title, laying them on the shelf flat with one pile for one or two alphabet letters. If the pile gets too large, start another one.
   
    

   Oversize books and skinny craft pamphlets and music books can be kept in a legal file in hanging file folders. As I have sold books on Amazon for over 6 years, I find this the easiest way to find them and store them without getting bunged corners and serious shelf ware.


 
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2. As you are alphabetizing your books, sort out the ones you no longer want to keep. If they are still in good condition, without writing in them, check out selling them on Amazon.com or box them up to sell in a garage sale.
3. If they will not sell, consider swapping them on paperbackswap.com for books you would rather keep and read. All that are not in the best condition take and donate to a worthy cause getting a tax receipt for your books, i.e. library, charitable thrift store, etc. or give away on freecycle.com.
4. The books you are not going to sell or swap, put in an easily carried fiber grocery bag and carry out to your car when you leave the house to go to town, so they do not sit and stare at your for weeks on end.

I have almost 1800 books listed, and this is how I keep from being buried under an avalanche of books. Voila, if you follow these 4 steps you will find your books organized and easy to find.

Source: This is my own solution, but please give credit to Amazon and to Paper Back Swap.

By Leila B. from Brookings, OR