Great Book Shelf System?

[RZehr]

We’ve recently moved again and are now in possession of about 100 feet of book shelf space. Not sure if this will be enough or not. About half is downstairs and half upstairs.
We are finally unboxing some books that have been in storage since 2017.

I’d like to generally know where to look for any book that I want to find. Maybe 2/3 of the books are ones that the children will read. Which ones to keep downstairs and which up?

How do you organize a family’s worth of books? Ideas?

[PeterG]

I have a lot of books (I really don't know how many). Nonfiction is organized by topic; there's not really a system for which topics are grouped near each other, but books on the same topic are together. Fiction and poetry are organized alphabetically by author's last name. I'm not a very orderly person, and sometimes books end up someplace other than where they're supposed to be, but I'm generally able to find a specific book quickly. I also keep a medium-sized bookshelf in the living room stocked with interesting books on various topics for convenient browsing.

[Somebody]

Decide if the main reading area will be upstairs or downstairs. Put the books most likely to be picked up in the main area. The ones not used as often go in the other space. Arrange the books in sections, such as :gardening books, children's books, medical, history, etc, etc. Also break down the children's books into early reader, middle, and older children.

[Aurien]

Decide if the main reading area will be upstairs or downstairs. Put the books most likely to be picked up in the main area. The ones not used as often go in the other space. Arrange the books in sections, such as :gardening books, children's books, medical, history, etc, etc. Also break down the children's books into early reader, middle, and older children.

Good ideas.
Also of course put the children's books in a spot where they can easily reach them on their own.

[Szdfan]

We’ve recently moved again and are now in possession of about 100 feet of book shelf space. Not sure if this will be enough or not.

You definitely don’t have enough space for books. Nobody has enough space until their library looks like this:

[Aurien]

We’ve recently moved again and are now in possession of about 100 feet of book shelf space. Not sure if this will be enough or not.

You definitely don’t have enough space for books. Nobody has enough space until their library looks like this:

Personally I'm partial to this one at the Waldsassen Abbey.

[Somebody]

But they really need some sofas and chairs in the library to be able to sit and read!

[violet]

for the younger kids, we also do a basket system, so they can just pull out a selection and put them away nicely without having to go back behind them and rearrange the shelves.

My older kids don't like to share their books so they have a separate shelf in their room. This allows the younger fingers from being able to touch them as well.

[queserasera_2]

I organize by topics mostly.
Church and religion
Agriculture, gardening and animal care
Crafting and homemaking
Business, self-help
My fiction
His fiction
Tween fiction
Children's books

[Szdfan]

So apparently when people take a picture of their bookshelf and post it on the Internet, it’s called a “shelfie.”