Librarians are anarchists by nature… but putting the books in that order would be against the better nature of most…
Now, with that said, my SO and I discussed whether we would combine our Sci Fi collections by author, title, topic, or spine color… but ran into difficulties over how to alphabetize by color and how do you determine a teal book from an aquamarine one, really? Can you imagine the ISBN for “aquamarine spine with yellow text in cursive”?
In my mind, wsfn, alphabetical by last name is the only safe way to arrange any personal library. Split fiction from non, though. Except for where I tend to collect books that make up nonsense about the ancient Celts and spew it back as “the old ways.” I file those in a separate section lest anyone get ideas.
I file my biographies by subject matter, my historical books (both non-fiction and historical fiction) by time frame. Series books (Hardy Boys, etc.) in order of series. Children’s books (easy reading level) by size of book, because many are over-sized. And of course, a few miscellaneous areas. We have so many books, I’ve got shelves all over the house.
dar1 about 15 years ago
Outsider Librarian?
wsfn about 15 years ago
Librarians are anarchists by nature… but putting the books in that order would be against the better nature of most…
Now, with that said, my SO and I discussed whether we would combine our Sci Fi collections by author, title, topic, or spine color… but ran into difficulties over how to alphabetize by color and how do you determine a teal book from an aquamarine one, really? Can you imagine the ISBN for “aquamarine spine with yellow text in cursive”?
hehehe, snicker, snort
BlueRaven about 15 years ago
In my mind, wsfn, alphabetical by last name is the only safe way to arrange any personal library. Split fiction from non, though. Except for where I tend to collect books that make up nonsense about the ancient Celts and spew it back as “the old ways.” I file those in a separate section lest anyone get ideas.
Smiley Rmom about 15 years ago
I file my biographies by subject matter, my historical books (both non-fiction and historical fiction) by time frame. Series books (Hardy Boys, etc.) in order of series. Children’s books (easy reading level) by size of book, because many are over-sized. And of course, a few miscellaneous areas. We have so many books, I’ve got shelves all over the house.