Spring Clean Your Bookshelf and get Organized

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A bookshelf spring cleaning project is a great way to eliminate clutter in your home and to get books you have read into the hands of others! 

Throughout the year, I am given books by family, and I win books in giveaways. I am also given gift cards to our local Half Priced Books.

At the beginning of the following year I go through my bookshelf to decide which books I am ready to sell, giveaway, or donate.

This year, spring clean your bookshelf to get organized and to make some extra cash!

Let’s Start Spring Cleaning Your Bookshelf!

To begin your bookshelf spring cleaning project you will decide which books you are ready to part with. Pull these books from your bookshelf and put them into three piles:

• Sell
• Giveaway
• Donate

Sell Your Books

Selling your books is a great way to make some cash to buy more books, pay down debt, or save! I will sell my books at a garage sale, Half Priced Books, or the Facebook Marketplace.

If you want to reinvest your book profits after you sell into new books, I recommend doing this at Half Priced Books on a day they are holding a sale.

This way you will be able to maximize your book haul!

Giveaway Your Books

Giving away books is a great way to share a book that you think others will enjoy! Often, I will give a book to someone that I know they will enjoy, with a sweet treat, as a holiday or birthday present.

Another great way to share your books is with a little free library. A little free library is a “take a book, leave a book” free book exchange. You can create your little free library at your home or somewhere in your community.

Little free library’s are commonly built as little houses that you place on a post in your front lawn. You will add books at first and then people can take them and add their own to the collection. This is a great way to recycle books!

You can find plans to build you own here!

Donate Your Books

Donating books is another way to declutter your bookshelf. I will donate books I have to a small local charity shop that I buy clothing for my kids from.

I like to give back to places that have given me so much. This charity shop has provided me with a deep discount on baby items before, just because they love to give back to others!

Finally, once you have sold, given away, or donated your books, it is time to organize your bookshelf! 

Organize Your Bookshelf

I organize my bookshelf the following way: books I want to keep, books I want to read, reference books, and children’s books.

I only allow myself one shelf to hold the books I want to read. This is because I want to make sure I can read them all in one year!

Also, I have a small collection of books that I one day will want to re-read. This is also a great shelf for family to grab from when they are staying with us.

The reference books I keep are cookbooks, magazines, and field books. I also keep old yearbooks so that my children can see how dorky their parents were in junior high and high school!

I used these magazine holders to keep my bookshelf tidy. This tissue box is a fun way to keep your bookshelf tidy! I love making my bookshelf look neat and organized.

I keep the children’s books on the bottom shelf so that they are easy to grab. My kids love books, and this encourages them to read as much as they want.

As my children have gotten older, my eldest is four, we decided to make them their own little book nooks! These shelves are super easy to install and keep books in order. The best part about these shelves, is that you can place them at any height on a wall so that your child can reach them easily!

Be a Frugal Reader and Stay Organized

Reading is a great hobby for the frugal minded! Not only is it a low cost hobby, it is a hobby that you can easily share with others to build a community around!

Spring clean your bookshelf and get organized! It will make you feel accomplished! Use my plan of action today to make some cash selling books, or to give back to people in your community. Everyone enjoys a good book.

Do you participate in swap meets or no buy groups to manage your frugal reading habit? Let me know how you maintain your book hobby on a frugal budget in the comments below!

Check out my other spring cleaning tips here!