I am trying to clear out the house of anything we don't need/use, or at least put things into rotation. We have a ton of kids books, but I'm having a hard time getting rid of any. How do you clear out kids books without feeling guilty? How do you decide which ones to keep and which ones to toss? I was always in the "you can never have too many books" camp, but I think some need to be passed down.
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My goal is to keep as many books as I have allotted space. The books I keep are the well worn, sentimental books given by family and ones LO will grow into. Out are the.books already read and could be enjoyed or useful to another kid. If I keep the focus on a kid I plan to give them to, it becomes easier to purge.
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I got rid of anything damaged, simplistic board books, and those stupid Disney books that aren't real stories. Then I got canvas boxes for picture books and put them where we like to sit and read. We just keep out as many as easily fit in the boxes with room to flip through and choose. Now both LOS can put them away easily amd can look through to find thr one they want without pulling them all off the shelf. One shelf of board books and flap books for independent play by the other toys, one small box of board books in the nursery, and done. Any picture books that don't fit live in a box in the closet and get rotated out when I think of it.
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We donate them. I figure someone who could really use to have cheap books could use them, and we have plenty of time to make going to the library a priority.
I just took a huge crate to the kids consignment store myself! I only keep the kids favorites (and a few favorites of my own).
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I sold and donated all of the very babyish ones. We have over 200 children's books so I didn't feel bad about getting rid of the ones they had outgrown.
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I got rid of a small paper bag, it's a start!
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@Bao: I donate some to the DCP and some to the school drive they have in the spring for used books - makes me feel good that other kids get to use them
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I have gotten rid of a few that I just couldn't stand (for ex, someone gave us a "fairy Barbie" book which was beyond inane). I usually donate them if they are still in good shape. Right now, we are keeping all of them for LO2, but I plan to start donating every few seasons once he starts to grow out of them.
DH and I recently donated 95% of our own physical book collection, and after carrying them around for over 20 years, I thought it would be painful but it felt great. I don't expect my kids to just read kindle books like I do, but I don't want their collection to get out of control either.
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I'm totally in that hoard all the books stage, so the thought of getting rid of any at this point doesn't apply...
But I would probably go through a criteria:
- Was this a favourite?
- Did we enjoy the story? Learn something?
- Was this gifted my someone that means a lot to us?
- Is it part of a collection?
- Will we read this again? If not, will it be something I'd like to have for my grandchildren?I am huge on buying used books, so they will get loved again!
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8 comments