subject: Creating A Home Library [print this page] Creating a library can be a great contribution to your home. If you have the desire, be sure to take the time to organize and categorize your home library.
There are many benefits to having your own library including always having the books you love at your finger tips, no worrying about library fines, the ability to write in the margins and look back for reference, no return dates, and many more benefits that you will continually realize as you build your library.
Building a library is easy, but it will take you some time. When you put the time into making it organized and logical you will love it even more in the end.
You will be able to quickly find what you need when you need it and determine which books you are missing. Here are some steps that will help you put a library together in your own home.
When you follow these simple steps you will have a library that will suit your needs.
Step one, get the materials you need to start a library.
Make a space available in your home where you can put all the books in an organized manner.
Then you should start gathering all your books, packing tape or book tape, mailing or multi-use labels, and a computer with a spread-sheet program and label template and Internet access.
Keep in mind that packing tape is somewhat easier to come by than book-tape and is just as sticky and reliable. This is a minor detail, but sometimes they make the biggest difference.
You want to purchase labels that will work with your printer and the word-processing program you choose to provide you with label templates. The number of labels you will need and how many rolls of tape will depend on the size of your book collection.
For each book, it is likely to work the best if you have at least 1 label and about 2 inches of tape.
Step two, create your catalog. True cataloging is more of an art than a science.
Every digit and letter in a catalog number has a specific value, a special purpose, and a list of rules that govern them. Catalogers are some of the most sought after and diligent information scientists out there.
However, you don't have to work that hard to keep your personal library organized.
The free and easy way to catalog your collection is to get the call numbers from an online catalog. There are many different places online that will provide you with this information.
In your spreadsheet program, you'll need at least three columns. Title, author, and call number will be sufficient for most people.
If you want to be more detailed you can have columns for the name of the publisher, year of publication, and even a column where you can place your personal rating for each book. You can print this catalog out later on as a reference or just keep it as a searchable electronic resource.
Step three, process and label your books. This will help make your books easy to find.
While you're going through your collection to catalog, you will also want to do some processing on your materials. This step will keep them organized and findable in your library.
This is where your labels and tape come in. Copy the call number of the book onto a label and then apply the label to the spine of the book. Then tape over the label and press down hard on the tape.
Then as you put them away you can put them in order of their call number so that you can always find them.
Step four, keep up the organization system. Once you have started make sure that you keep your library organized so that the system you have worked so hard to achieve always stays effective.
If you do this, it will be easy to locate the books you want when you need them. It will be simple if someone wants to borrow a book or if you need to quickly look something up.
Step five, continue adding to your library. Keep reading new books and adding the ones you like into your library. Making a library is truly a lifetime endeavor that may never be fully complete. There are just so many good books in the world.
As your book collection grows, you will love that you already have a system in place to keep everything organized and easily findable.
