Should I give my book collection away?
30 June 2009It was 2002, I was in the fourth year of high school. Every Friday night I went to the movie store of my hometown. Mobster movies were my thing. The Godfather trilogy was only 5 euros per episode. I bought all the VHS tapes. Same goes for The Last Don, Blow and Donnie Brasco. I enjoyed all those movies and was proud of my collection.
Yet at the same time a little voice inside my head kept telling me all those tapes were a waste of money and space. Within a few years, DVD would be the standard and tapes would be hopelessly old-fashioned. In fact, I was already late with adopting the whole DVD revolution. That’s why the tapes were so cheap.
It was only a few months later that I got my first DVD player. The stack of tapes had become pretty useless.
I’m writing this down because I’ve got a similar feeling now when it comes to books. A few weeks ago I looted a second hand store. Huckleberry Finn, Brave New World, and One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest were mine for only 1 euro and 75 cents. Yeah. But then the little voice came back…
Photo Flickr / Chotda
Let’s be clear: reading the books is not the problem. But whenever I’ve finished a book and put it back in my bookcase, I feel guilty. All that paper. All those books. Just collecting dust. That’s a bad thing, for two reasons:
- Ebooks are the future. As soon as the Kindle touches ground in Europe, I’ll say goodbye to the paper backs. I got that ‘a-ha’-moment when I read Steven Johnson’s piece for The Wall Street Journal called
How the E-Book Will Change the Way We Read and Write - The great works by Thompson, Kerouac, Safran Foer, and Wolfe are basically rotting away in my little personal library. I should give every single book away to friends and colleagues. By doing that I’ll share knowledge and great stories.
Although I dream of a library with a Chesterfield and green carpet, I think I’ll have to get rid of my collection. I should make other people happy with it and read digital books. When proposing this to my Twitter followers, I got some interesting replies:
@JayHootsen: I gave away about half of my books last month. Not because of eBooks or so, but it made some people happy anyway.
@Alper: As soon as I can get my entire library digitally on my iPhone, I probably am doing something similar.
@loekessers: Of course, books are here to be read. And if you want to read a book again, you’ll support the author by buying a new one.
@RemcoBron replied that giving away books hurts authors, since people won’t buy the book anymore when they get it for free. I replied that books can go viral then. @erwblo; then said that books always have been viral. Hence the libraries, said @alper.@obk and retweeted by @pastoorponcke;: Keep your books. They’re worth it. If not, change what you read.
@_Pim_: Dude, you won’t even look smart!
@Jerryhtmn;: I’ve always wanted a whole bunch of stuffed book shelfs, just because it looks really intellectual. So I’d keep them.
@LeanneRoos: ebooks would make your books antique or retro = money
What do you think? Do you recognize my sentiment or are you still aiming for that Chesterfield?
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Categorie: cultural stuff
Tags: books, ebooks, kindle, library
Toughh question for two reasons. I love technology, gadgets and all the hoopla that goes with it. Kindle looks amazing, helps save trees and all that.
I also love books. I can’t really compare them with Kindle (for obvious reasons) but I think I’d still prefer the classic look and feel of the book. I also like the idea of having a small library at home.
I think you can giveaway some books. At least the ones you;re sure you won’t return to. I agree with @JayHootsen You can make others happy.
Def aiming for the Chesterfield.
I’ve had more then one word with the Polle-o-meter on this one troughout time. Thing is, books are an investment; capital. You don’t just give away capital. Maybe the concept of ‘ownership’ doesn’t apply anyway since ideas aren’t to be patented. The value you pay for -print, logistics, shelf, authors’ living, margins- vanishes with the transaction. The invaluable are the lessons you learned. So, value’s lost, really. In that sense, go lend others the invaluable. Are books their content or their wrapping?
Though discussion – we always end up in a let’s-just-do-a public-bookshelf-thing with names and email + short comments. It’ll act as a networktool, too.
Ik ben het niet eens met Steven Johnson: de Kindle is leuk, maar papieren boeken zijn tijdloos en doen het bovendien zonder stroom. Geef weg wat je niet meer interesseert en sorteer de rest op kleur :)
I’ve grown up in a house with a old english feel, ditto bookshelves. When we decorated our apartment, we went for a minimalistic feel. To my surprise I didn’t feel any dumber with those same books in a box in the closet… I was simply less reminded about each of those subjects.
My vote goes to an e-reader combined with a Surface table + plasma. Easy, sweet, efficient. (imagine reading and highlighting interesting phrases/paragraphs which can be easily searched afterward through keywords and/or tags on the surface table)
Hey,
Kwam toevallig je Tweet tegen op Twitter.
Mocht je besluiten je boekenkast uit te dunnen dan het ik een tip voor je: Breng ze naar een BookCrossingZone bij jou in de buurt. Dit is een plek waar mensen boeken achterlaten en boeken mogen meenemen. Het is de bedoeling dat de boeken nadat ze gelezen zijn weer doorgegeven worden of “in het wild” worden achtergelaten, zoals in de trein.
De boeken worden bij een BC zone geregistreerd en krijgen een uniek nummer zodat hun reis gevolgd kan worden via de website http://www.bookcrossing.com. Ook kan men hier een rating aan het boek geven. Dit is allemaal niet verplicht, maar het kan, het is leuk en je kunt iemand er erg blij mee maken.
Nieuwsgierig geworden? check onderstaande link voor meer info.
http://www.bookcrossers.be/bss/nl/intkort
Groetjes,
Petra
beheerder van de Bookcrossingzone’s in de bibliotheken van Oosterwolde (FR) en Haulerwijk.
PS: er is ook een Bookcrossing Hyve met info.
@jerryhtmn’s comment is why i gave him a bunch of my books. Most of which had more value for him than for me.
Dude, I’ve seen your collection and trust me it’s not that much of a collection, yet! (You’ve been to my place so you know what I’m talking about :D)
I am a reader and have been one since I was 5 years old. I grew up in a house with over 5000 books, mine not included. (For some reason my father has five copies of the Great Gatsby, none of them rare or valuable)
To me a house without books is like a human without a soul. (that’s a quote that was on the bags of the bookstore where I used to work, I don’t know who said it though…)
Of course I do give/ sell/ throw away books every once in a while. Otherwise I’ll simply have too many. But if I’ve enjoyed a book I like to keep it for some time, I’ll probably read it again too. And what to think of rare first or signed editions? (Please mr. Salinger can you sign my Kindle?)
I have not yet read the article about this digital book thingy, but I will. Of course digital books will become popular and change the way we read but I don’t see books diappearing all that soon. I think people enjoy reading an old fashioned book too much. There is just something about books, it doesnt matter if it’s some rare first edition or an old beaten up, dog-eared paperback.
My advice to you: don’t give away your books, buy some more! (And please, keep ‘em arranged in alphabetical order of the author’s name. People who color arange books usually don’t read them.)
you have an amazing collection!if your going to give them away pass em along over here;)
can i have your books :-)
Ik denk dat de vergelijking tussen dvd’s en e-books een appel vs. peer-verhaal is. De dvd is simpelweg een meer nieuwe/andere manier van films ‘opslaan’ en afspelen. Je kijkt de film namelijk nog steeds op tv, niet in de trein, in het park of waar dan ook. Kortom: hou je ouderwetste boeken nog even vast!