Building a Personal Library
Umberto Eco owned 30,000 books. Visitors asked, “Have you read all these?” Eco replied that unread books are more valuable than read ones. The library isn’t a trophy case of completed conquests. It’s a research tool — a map of what you might need to know.
Nassim Taleb called this the anti-library. The shelf isn’t a record of what you’ve absorbed. It’s a reminder of what you haven’t. The unread books are possibilities; the read books are history. Both serve the owner.
Collection is not library. The collector acquires to possess. The librarian acquires to use. The collector preserves first editions in climate-controlled cases. The librarian writes in margins, bends spines, and shelves for retrieval rather than display.
This distinction matters for function. A collection optimizes for value preservation; a library optimizes for intellectual access. The book that stays pristine on the shelf produces less than the book that shows evidence of use.
You’re building a library unless you’re consciously building a collection. Act accordingly.
Acquisition strategy affects the library’s quality. Options:
Bookstores: Browse the new books table and themed shelves. Serendipity discovery. High prices for new releases; sale sections provide value. Independent stores curate better than chains.
Used bookstores: Lower prices, unexpected finds, out-of-print treasures. The randomness is feature, not bug. These visits are exploratory. You find what the store happens to have, which includes things you wouldn’t have sought.
Library sales: Bulk acquisition cheap. Quality varies. Useful for filling gaps, less useful for specific targets.
Online (Amazon, AbeBooks, eBay): Efficient for known targets. Searching for specific titles, comparing editions, locating out-of-print books. Dismal for discovery — algorithms show you what you already wanted.
Publishers and authors: Newsletter subscriptions, following small presses. New releases in specific domains.
The best strategy mixes modes. Use online for targets, physical browsing for discovery, used sources for depth.
Organization reflects purpose. Systems include:
Library of Congress / Dewey: Formal systems designed for large institutions. Overkill for personal libraries but useful principles: group related material, establish consistent categories.
Personal taxonomies: Shelves by project, theme, time period, or personal significance. “Books I’m currently thinking about,” “Reference for current work,” “Deep background,” “To read.”
No organization: Everything mixed. Works for small libraries where spatial memory locates books. Breaks down around 500 volumes.
Hybrid: Organize the working library (books you access regularly), let the archive (books you keep but rarely use) be looser.
The organizational question: how do you find the book when you need it? Any system that answers this question is adequate.
The working library is the subset actively in use. These books live on the desk, the nightstand, the shelf within reach. They’re the current conversation partners.
The archive is everything else — books you’ve finished, books you might want someday, books you keep for reference or sentiment. The archive doesn’t need immediate accessibility; it needs not to be lost.
Physical separation helps. Working library in the workspace; archive in the basement, overflow shelves, or storage. The separation reduces noise in daily browsing.
Care for books is functional, not precious. Basic handling extends lifespan:
- Keep out of direct sunlight (spine fading, paper degradation)
- Store upright (leaning strains bindings)
- Control humidity (mold below, brittleness above)
- Handle with clean, dry hands
- Shelve loosely enough to remove without friction
Beyond this, use the books. The marginalia, the bent spines, the coffee stains — these are evidence of engagement, not damage. A pristine book in a library suggests the library isn’t being used.
The relationship matters. The library is a mirror — it reflects what you’ve cared about over time. Reviewing the shelves shows your intellectual history. Gaps reveal blind spots; clusters reveal obsessions.
Books you’ll never read still serve. Their presence is a reminder, an option, a kept possibility. The library expands your potential scope even when you stay within a corner.
Buy more books than you can read. The surplus is the point.
Go Deeper
Books
- The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel — Meditation on libraries as idea, institution, and personal practice.
- A Gentle Madness by Nicholas Basbanes — History of book collecting and collectors.
- How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler — Includes discussion of owning books and building working libraries.
Essays
- Umberto Eco’s “How to Justify a Private Library” — Humorous but serious treatment.
- Tim Ferriss’s interviews with bibliophiles — Practical acquisition and organization tips.
Related: maintenance, tools