Setting Up a System for Book Organisation

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Day 24 of #Write28Days Challenge

Books are my nemesis. I can’t bear to part with them but they contribute to clutter in the home if not managed properly. Thus, I am always looking for a better system for book organisation. But I live with other people, namely children who can’t always remember what I tell them about it.

Nevertheless, I keep trying.

Books Galore

In our home, next to toys, books are the next item that clutters up our home. Almost all of us are voracious readers. So you often see books strewn on sofas, dining tables, study tables, bedside tables and on beds.

And we have a big collection of books inside the bookshelves as well.

What is the Best System for Book Organisation?

The answer to this question is: the simplest system.

Why? Because the children will not get it if it is complicated. Just like toys, I organise them like with like. And I avoid having narrow categories. Instead, I stick to broad categories like:

(a) Homeschool Books. Everything that is necessary and used for homeschooling, such as textbooks, required readers, and even assessment books and national schools’ test papers are grouped together.

(b) Fiction. Fiction books, however, are slightly more categorised into:

• baby/toddler
• beginning readers
• intermediate readers
• book series (Little House on the Prairie, Horrible Histories, etc)

(c) Reference Books. This includes bibles, concordance, commentaries, books on evolution, etc.

Book Organisation System and the Children

You need to co-op and involve your children as you set up your system for book organisation. If not, you will drive yourself and them nuts. Because they will undo your system very fast.

One way to help everyone is to label the shelves. If you are more hardworking like I was at one stage, I put coloured stickers to indicate if a book belonged to the toddler fiction bookshelf or the intermediate reader fiction bookshelf. This didn’t last long though. #beinghonest

Baskets Not Shelves

Although I aspire for my books to be placed neatly on shelves like in the library, it is but a dream when the children were younger. It is slightly better now.

A more practical and less stressful way I dealt with books when the children were younger was to have them put away books into book baskets or boxes at the end of the day during our nightly pickups. No need to arrange. Just put all books into the baskets or boxes.

Then, I would replace them into the bookshelves that have been already labelled.

Simplify Your System for Book Organisation

Remember, the less complicated our system, the easier for the children to follow. Overcomplicate it and they will just give up.

Tomorrow I will talk about organising paperwork.

See you!

Related Links

8 Reasons Why I Still Do Read Alouds to My Children
Teaching Our Children to Read

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