day 53–PROM the books
February 22, 2010 by Stephanie
53
I hope you had a great weekend! This week, we’re going to PROM the books. I used to collect books and had so many that the bookcases were overflowing. I bought books that I thought I should read, and kept books that I had read years and years ago, even though I knew deep down that I’d never want to read them again. As our family grew bigger and bigger, our book collection grew and grew. When we moved we had so many books they hardly fit into the boxes I bought to contain them all.
Are you the same way?
Are there books in your home that would be better enjoyed by someone else? Books are not trophies. Reclaim the square footage in your home housed by forgotten books.
You can give your books to: your local library, local children’s hospital, local schools and child care centers, VA hospitals, military bases, get rid of them on craigslist or freecycle, or drop them off at the Salvation Army/Goodwill.
Today:
PROM the books: look through all bookcases and quickly purge unwanted, unneeded, and unloved books
yesterday: days 51 & 52
What does PROM stand for?
Never mind – found it!
Purge
Remove
Organize
Maintain
My husband & I wrestle with this, because the more clutter I SEE, the more I stress. For him, the more we stuff junk into a drawer just to get it out of sight & PROM later, the more he stresses. So, we’re workin on it.
yup, that’s it!!
it’s definitely a challenge to figure out what works for each person. I’m a bit like both of you. I’d prefer to “prom” for reals, but if there isn’t time to do it properly, I’ll shove it into a closet or drawer to hide it from my eyesight.
I totally get where you’re coming from.
xoxo steph
Hi Steph, I love your site!!! I’ve been ‘somewhat’ keeping up with your daily tasks but find that I end up doing them a little later. At least they are getting done:)
I wanted to share a site I use to PROM books though it doesn’t clean off your shelves overnight… Its http://www.paperbackswap.com and it is designed to swap unwanted books and keep our bookshelves updated.
Its an amazing concept that really works. Its structured via book credits rather than money and how it works is that you list the books you are willing to part with on a virtual bookshelf. When someone wants one of your books you send it along to them and you get a credit that you can use to request books yourself. There is no fee, the only charge is that when you send a book you pay shipping via media mail so most books cost $2.78 to send. The books you get are for no cost.
Its a super way to recycle and save money. I’ve been using the site for about a year and half and recommend it to anyone and everyone!!!
(they have a couple of sister sites too for CD’s and DVD’s and the credits are transferable between all the sites)