Home Library Quotes

“Reasons to keep books:

To read them one day! If you hope to read the book one day, definitely keep it. It’s fine to be aspirational; no one else will keep score on what you have actually read. It’s great to dream and hope that one day you do have the time to read all your books.

To tell your story. Some people give away every book they’ve read explaining, “What’s the point in keeping a book after I’ve read it if I’m not going to read it again? It’s someone else’s turn to read my copy now.” If that works for you, then only keep books on your shelves that you haven’t read yet. However you can probably understand that the books that you haven’t yet read only tell the story of your future, they don’t say much about where you’ve been and what made you who you are today.

To make people think you’ve read the book! This one may be hard or easy for you to admit, but we don’t think there is any shame in it. Sometimes we hold on to books because they represent our aspirational selves, supporting the perception of how well read or intelligent we are. They are certainly the books our ideal selves would read, but in reality—if we had to admit it—we probably never will. We would argue that you should still have these books around. They are part of your story and who you want to be.

To inspire someone else in your household to read those books one day. Perhaps it’s your kids or maybe your guests. Keeping books for the benefit of others is thoughtful and generous. At the very least, anyone who comes into your home will know that these are important books and will be exposed to the subjects and authors that you feel are important. Whether they actually read Charles Dickens or just know that he existed and was a prolific writer after seeing your books: mission accomplished!

To retain sentimental value. People keep a lot of things that have sentimental value: photographs, concert ticket stubs, travel knickknacks. Books, we would argue, have deeper meaning as sentimental objects. That childhood book of your grandmother's— she may have spent hours and hours with it and perhaps it was instrumental in her education. That is much more impactful than a photograph or a ceramic figurine. You are holding in your hands what she held in her hands. This brings her into the present and into your home, taking up space on your shelves and acknowledging the thread of family and history that unites you. Books can do that in ways that other objects cannot.

To prove to someone that you still have it! This may be a book that you are otherwise ready to give away, but because a friend gifted it, you want to make sure you have it on display when they visit. This I’ve found happens a lot with coffee table books. It can be a little frustrating when the biggest books are the ones you want to get rid of the most, yet, you are beholden to keeping them. This dilemma is probably better suited to “Dear Abby” than to our guidance here. You will know if it’s time to part ways with a book if you notice it frequently and agonize over the need to keep it to stay friends with your friend. You should probably donate it to a good organization and then tell your friend you spilled coffee all over it and had to give it away!

To make your shelves look good! There is no shame in keeping books just because they look good. It’s great if your books all belong on your shelves for multiple reasons, but if it’s only one reason and that it is that it looks good, that is good enough for us. When you need room for new acquisitions, maybe cull some books that only look good and aren’t serving other purposes.”
― Thatcher Wine, For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library

“Bookshelves stood against the four walls. They were shapely and well made, but were all second-hand; Hetty had picked them up on visits to Chesterbourne. She liked her shelves to have personality, as well as the books on them, and thought it would have been simpler to order shelves to be fitted around the room, or to buy those bookcases that grow with the growth of their library, she had stood firm against the amusement of Victor and the irritation of her aunt, and had the shelves she wanted.”
― Stella Gibbons

“In the fast paced, digitally saturated, screen-overloaded era we live in, we believe that printed books are a refuge of space and time. It’s OK to slow down and read; it’s OK to fill your home and your shelves with printed books and to celebrate the comfort and meaning they provide in our lives. We think it’s something that we all crave whether we know it or not.”
― Thatcher Wine, For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library

“With respect to space and time, books are like a wall of resistance against a world that demands everything we have to give.

Reading a book allows you to travel through space and time to other places, to see the world from other perspectives and walk in another’s shoes for a bit. Stories create possibilities for our limited vantages to be cracked open, affording new views and different experiences.

Reading forces us to slow down. In the fast paced world we live, time is accelerating and we feel we have less of it. Our focus shifts second by second. We flip through our friends’ updates on Facebook or Instagram, quickly to get the story. We get impatient when a song or a movie takes too long to download. We read on our devices, take a pause and check our email, check our texts. Our concentration is spent in bursts and the sense of chaos builds.

And we are in a time of chaos. Each one of us can feel it. The pressure and the speed often feel relentless.”
― Thatcher Wine, For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library

“Almost everyone has a book collection whether they realize it or not. The books you read in school, the books you’ve been given by friends, the books you inherited from your parents or grandparents. There is a story in all of them. You can choose to tell this story in your present home, or to part ways with these books and tell a different story.

For those who have embarked on the journey to build their own book collection or a dream library with considered choices, there is a sincere intentionality to the process. There are also unlimited options that can feel overwhelming.

No matter how books enter our lives, we have a choice within any moment to decide what to do with them. We live in the material world, in buildings and houses. In most cases, we cannot keep unlimited amounts of stuff. We have to decide what is important to us and then decide where it goes.”
― Thatcher Wine, For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library

“Books are unlike other household objects in that one can have a “collection of books” without being a “book collector.” There are very few objects that have so much versatility, that can be acquired at so little relative cost, and that function as decoration when not being used for entertainment or intellectual engagement.”
― Thatcher Wine, For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library

“There really is a book about every subject. Sometimes it takes just one book to begin a collection or to anchor a group of seemingly disparate books, providing a launching point to build a larger collection.

Two books can constitute a “collection.”

Once you have three, you’re on a roll! The larger it is, the more it says that it’s important to you and the more you can deepen your knowledge and immersion in that subject or hobby. Books are not just for readers or booklovers. Books are for everyone.”
― Thatcher Wine, For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library