Library Progress

In late winter I started planning the redo of our library.  On the second floor there is a nice-sized landing that has a wall of windows.  The light is great in that room and since the first day we moved in, I've designated it as our library.

These days, we're all reading e-books in the house, but BB and DD still have a large collection of picture books, comics, and other collectible books where the illustrations our key.  Those are books we want to keep so that the boys can access them any time they want.  The collection, however, had grown out of control and we really needed to pare down.  After going through all the volumes and getting rid of boxes and boxes of books, we were left with what you see in the photos.

I measured the space, ordered the new bookshelves, and go to work organizing books by subject matter and type.  After all the shelves were filled, some are double-stacked, we still have all the books sitting on top of the shelves remaining.  They need a home.  We will probably do one last pare down and then deal with what we have left.  What's missing are the books that currently reside in the boys' room.  So let's say one more large pile in addition to what you see here.

But I'm loving the way the bookcases look here - the lower shelves means everyone can reach every book without help.  There's a long surface to place a book on top and read.  There's a mass of wall space for art.  And we've made maximum use of the length of the wall.  Next up is possibly a new, larger rug, reading lamps, floor cushions, and artwork.  I also want to find some small book displays to hold the extra books.  This definitely is an ongoing project but I'm pleased with the progress.