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Smiling Shelves

Cataloguing My Library

3/1/2018

7 Comments

 
Last week, I shared how I had spent some time reorganizing my bookshelves. I included lots of pictures, if you are interested in checking out that post.

Once I was done with that project, I realized I wasn't quite finished with what I wanted to do with my books. Two years ago for Christmas, my in-laws gave me a four-drawer card catalogue. It's been a wonderful decoration in my library since then, but I was ready to make it useful.

So I catalogued my library.
I created a spreadsheet with four categories:​
  • Fiction - Read
  • Fiction - Unread
  • Nonfiction - Read
  • Nonfiction - Unread
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Then I had my amazing husband use his fancy knowledge of Microsoft Office to turn my spreadsheet into a set of alphabetized note cards for each category.
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And once they were all printed out (which took a surprisingly long time), I put them in my card catalogue! The left side is for fiction, the top drawer being my read books and the bottom being my unread books. The right side is for nonfiction. My goal is to move all of the cards from the bottom drawers into the top, although I know that's going to be pretty much unachievable, since I'm sure I'll be adding new books to them.
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And in case you're curious (and because I love data), here are the categories as they stood when I completed printing on February 12.
  • Fiction - Read - 351 books
  • Fiction - Unread - 269 books
  • Nonfiction - Read - 106 books
  • Nonfiction - Unread - 253 books
That means that I have a total of 979 books. I have read 56% of the fiction books and 30% of the nonfiction books. Over all, I've read 47% of my books. I was really hoping it would turn out to be at least more than 50% read, but now I have my first goal to aim for!
Have you ever catalogued your books in any way? I'd love to hear about your method!
7 Comments
Christine link
3/1/2018 01:42:57 pm

This is just so cool! I love that the catalogue was a great decoration...but that when you were ready, it also could be a useful project to work on :) And I totally get the unachievable goal thing! But aiming for 50% sounds like a perfect first step :)

I sort of have my books catalogued on Goodreads, but it's gotten a bit unwieldy. I love using Goodreads for so many different things, but specifically managing my unread books has become a chore on there. (Hmmmm maybe because I have too many books? That couldn't be it, could it? LOL)

So as many cool apps as I've seen over the years, I told myself over and over I wouldn't start over in another app... but... I did. Just yesterday I downloaded the Book Buddy Pro app and it's been fun to play around with. I have my little helper doing a scanning "project" with me (he was just despondent before his nap because he got a major case of FOMO thinking I would do more without him ::sigh:: Anyway, part of me thinks I'm crazy for adding another app, but another part thinks once the scanning part is done this will work perfectly for unread books -- I shall have to see!

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
3/4/2018 02:49:39 pm

I've always been tempted by those book cataloguing apps, but I've never committed and actually used one. I hope it works well for you, and it's awesome that your son is helping you out! It sounds like he's being more helpful than my little guy was. :) I'm curious to hear how the app works for you as you use it more. I'm not opposed to cataloguing my books multiple times! :)

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Joann Downie link
3/1/2018 07:48:24 pm

I love the whole concept!! I love how your husband printed all them cards-I love the box also-WAY cool!! No I haven't cataloged my books,but I loved seeing this.
https://justmeandmyblogreviews.blogspot.com/2018/02/my-february-wrap-up-post.html

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
3/4/2018 02:45:24 pm

I'm glad you liked hearing about my project, Joann! It was so much fun to work on!

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Katie @ Doing Dewey link
3/3/2018 06:52:15 pm

Having your own card catalog is so incredible an awesome! I love it :)

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
3/4/2018 02:44:46 pm

I was so excited when I unwrapped that Christmas gift! My in-laws first had me unwrap 11 packages of note cards, which was rather confusing. But when I saw the card catalogue, it all made sense! :)

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Kathryn Tobias
3/4/2018 05:25:11 pm

I have all my books on Word documents. I have two lists - "Mysteries" (read and unread) and "Books To Get". I print paper copies and check off books that I have read each year. I wish I had them on a spreadsheet so I could fool around with the lists but there are too many to consider moving. My "Mysteries" list is 97 pages, back to back and my "Books To Get" is 37 pages, printed on one side. I've been keeping the lists since 1998, so I'm only missing about 30 years of books!

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    My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.

    You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com.

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