When to get rid of a book?

I thought it might be interesting to read the reasons people have for getting rid of books.

* When you didn't like the book.
* When you won't re-read it (when in doubt, get rid of it immediately or put it away so you can decide later).
* When it's about an old edition of a computer programme or programming language.
* ...or when it's an outdated reference book about something else.
* When the information in that book is already in other books you have (or easily findable on the internet) and it's not an exceptionally good reference book or outdated.
* When it's a duplicate book and you're not using it for lending it out to people.

* When they pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

What is this "Get rid of books" that you speak of? I do not understand these strange words and they make little sense to me....

The purpose of "getting rid of" is to find someone else who wants to enjoy the books, I think :) Yes, books look nice in the house, but I think they'd fit better in a home of someone who enjoys the book when you don't (...I have bought books that I didn't like when I read them).

there are a few different destinations for books that I no longer want in my home.

#1: give to someone else

**this can be done by physically giving it to someone that I think will enjoy the book (friends or family)
**giving it to the library for their collection, not booksale
**listing it on paperbackswap or bookmooch
**giving it to the library for the annual booksale or book sale cart (choice of last resort)

#2: discard - point of last resort... truly last resort

**book is in unusable condition by anyone... mold, dirt, missing pages
**book is too old, extremely out of date, easily referenced in another form
**too many other copies listed on bookmooch or pbs & library doesn't want it either.
**just want it gone NOW!!!

I put books that I enjoyed but have no intention of reading again, in to my Family and Friends bookcase. Then when someone comes to visit I encourage them to take take home whatever they want. Any books I just don't like I put into my Charity box and once a month get rid of them. There are 4 hospitals, 3 nursing homes, 2 jails and a coffee shop who accept donations. Any old tattered and worn out books will became art and craft projects. I am making book clocks for Christmas gifts this year. I have only thrown away one book and there was just no hope for it.

I like the idea of a 'Family and Friends bookcase' - but first to find a spare bookcase to put them on! At the moment, any thinning merely reduces the number of books that are double stacked or put horizontally on top of properly shelved books.

The 'Family and Friends' bookcase sounds like a nice idea!

Yesterday my grandfather and I were cleaning out his bookcase. Lots of old books about many many subjects. He also discovered some books he hadn't read yet, so that was fun :)
All books he didn't want anymore were put on the salon table, which is very full of book piles now. I sorted them into piles for specific people, two piles for psychology books (as some family members are also interested in that) and other books which we'll also give to the 2nd-hand-bookshop or just to interested people. I also listed a few on Bookmooch (the non-Dutch ones).

I recently got rid of a series of books I knew I wouldn't read after having read the first one and barely liking it (The Agatha Raisin mysteries by M.C. Beaton). I also got rid of all of my Virginia Woolf when I realized that I kept the books on the shelves to impress myself but didn't like reading Woolf at all. I also get rid of books that I've started and put down and know that I won't ever pick up again.

Sometimes I get rid of a copy of a book when I find a hardcover edition.

However, as a general rule, once it comes into the house, it stays in the house. Ratty old copies of well loved books have pride of place, as do books from my chilldhood and strange and obscure books inherited from family members. I have 3 copies of one particular old cookbook because they belonged to husband's great-grandmother, husband's grandmother, and husband's great aunt.

I double and triple stack books on shelves and use location tags to "find" books when I'm looking for them 'cuz I certainly can't easily find things by just looking at what's visible.

I get rid of a book if:

* I hated it. Really hated its effing guts
* It's an old paperback that has started to fall apart
* I upgrade to a nicer copy (pb>hb; unsigned>signed; worn and dirty>new and fresh)
* It's a meaningless duplicate I acquired for some other reason
* Someone convinces me they want it much more than I do. People have seen my catalog on the web and written to me telling me they have hunted for a copy of that book for years (has happened a couple of times) and the book has no special significance for me.

I get rid of books for similar reasons to the rest of you - hated it, bad condition, duplicate, outdated info, etc.

My main criteria for the keep/chuck choice is "Will I read it again" but the problem is that I have many books that I know I won't read again but I feel like I should read them once more just to be sure. Never happens.

I tend to go on binges of discarding books in the spring because there's a big charity booksale that I volunteer for and I KNOW I will come home with more books, so I have a bit of a clear-out ahead of time and donate the surplus to the sale.

I am fortunate as there is a library in the retirement village where I live, and I am the honorary librarian. I am always collecting preloved books for myself, if not keepable I stock the shelves.

Another is just to bag them up and donate to one of the charity stores.

I'm iffy on bringing books to charity stores. My ex spent a few months running a Goodwill here in Charlotte. Some types of books (ie Science Fiction and Fantasy) were destroy on sight per regional office's rules. But yet they had hundreds and hundreds of romance serials that sat on the shelves week after week. Really bugged me.

I really like the idea of the "Friends & Family" bookshelf too! I kind of have one that is paperbacks of the hardcover books that I like... but to add extra hardcovers to the "shelf" would be nice too.

As for "getting rid of" books - wow, that is hard to do... I wean off of them, even if I tried to read them and didn't like them... eventually consign or I donate to our local Friends of the Library, but it is somewhat akin to a dentist visit & having a root canal!

My general description of why I keep books, even if I will never re-read them, is that even a glance at a title will bring back warm memories of an enjoyable read, and to be surrounded with those kind of "memory vibes" in any room is delicious! If I don't like it, no one will think twice when I remove it from my home or presence - you cannot do that so easily with disappointing family, friends or pets! So collecting books is a soul rewarding experience, they fill me even when life might be draining me.
in a re-purposed Martha Stewart comment "Books are a Good Thing"

I love the idea of 'Friends & Family" bookshelf... in the rare moment that I actually get rid of a book (doesnt happen but once in a blue moon) I donate to the local library. And like right now I have a couple of books that is just completely AWOL and will reappear.

Last month I had a flood and lost several hundred books.
There was a sense of liberation. I have a very hard time getting rid of books. The flood opened up a new era in my life. As sad as it was lo lose the books, there was a sense of relief when I realized that I couldn't save most of them.
I can now see a wall that I hadn't seen for years. I painted, then gave several boxes of books away. Now I am sorting out duplicates and books I will never read. More wall space! I love it.

What is this strange "wall space" concept you speak of?

SuseGordon (#14) mentions "memory vibes", but I find I do not necessarily need the actual book for this as long as I have noted some comments on it and/or can read the reviews others have written to remind me of the book. In this way LibraryThing has been very liberating and made me much happier to get rid of books that were worth reading once but not rereading. That, and being the wrong side of 50, which has made me more realistic about the amount of reading time I still have left (and the number of books I would like to read that I have not even read once!)

18: Being the wrong side of 50 and having dealt with several people's estates who were pathological collectors of crap that was impossible to get rid of in a short time before the house went on the market, I am increasingly aware that keeping things because you once loved them, even though you don't love them now and have no use for them, borders on the insane.

The stuff you have is your potential, the things you want to do. Letting go of things that have no potential for you is part of moving forward to doing things you really want to do. One declutter book I read recently said that if it's the memory you want and not the thing itself, take a picture and get rid of the thing.

19: So how does that saying actually go? "A Picture is worth a thousand words"... but how many words are in the average book? heh, heh :)

I have a book journal so even though I get rid of a book I can still revisit it when ever I want.

I've been letting go of the books I won't read again. It's a matter of trusting that there will always be books I want to read, and that I will be able to find the ones I've let go if I change my mind.

Also, so many of mine are packed away, not visible. I want to be able to see my preciouses!

In addition to keeping books because it pleases me, I am keeping my books in the event my currently-not-much-of-a-reader daughter, aged 17, becomes more of a reader the older she gets. She's an only child, so will get them all anyway.

She would probably be upset if I got rid of any large number of my books even now, since she occasionally wants to read one and likes the variety to choose from.

You are soooo lucky that your daughter wants your books. My boys are readers but aren't interested in my books, and have already informed me they don't want them.