From Maximalism to Minimalism and Back

When I first got married, I had a dream of lining an entire wall in my new house full of bookshelves. I can remember bringing over all the books I had in my bedroom, in something like 13 U-Haul boxes. I had carefully labelled each one and envisioned where the books would go. At the time, I thought that was a lot of books, especially as I practically kept every single textbook from school and was adding more books every few months. Moving the boxes over certainly felt like a lot of work at the time.

Going from one bookshelf in my childhood bedroom to three, and then four bookshelves seemed astonishing after getting married! What I had thought was a lot of books was actually not, compared to the number of bookshelves I now have (my husband keeps telling me I can't add any more). The shelves were still largely vacant and full of promise for the titles to be stored. Eventually, over time and many travels, I was able to add to my library. I ran into the issue of having cluttered shelves later on, but I had made it work.

Then minimalism hit.

It wasn't so much that I disagreed with the principles of minimalism, but rather that I knew how difficult it would be to apply some of these decluttering concepts to books, one of the few things I actually collect. However, I recognized that I was holding on to a lot of titles that I knew I would never read. I went through three major purges:

1. books to be donated to the church I was attending at the time;
2. books that I could give to friends; and
3. books that I would donate to the Christian used bookstore in town, including those that my friends did not take. 

All was well as I could really focus on the remaining titles I had. What changed my mind about keeping my library small?

A few things contributed to my desire to replenish my books once more. One was the discovery of Book Outlet, where I could suddenly procure a number of Christian titles at prices that were previously unavailable to me through traditional bookstores and even online ones. Another was the global pandemic when libraries and bookstores were closed for a brief time, which resulted in long wait times for e-books. Coupled with bookstores being inaccessible, some also shut their doors permanently over time (goodbye, Parasource). And finally, the recognition that some Christian titles were becoming increasingly difficult to find, whether it was due to being out-of-print or that retailers were no longer stocking them.

As a result, I ended up going to a lot of used bookstores to find the books that I treasured in the past, and finding online sales where possible. I had not realized that even books from the 2000s and 2010s were becoming more scarce, which led me to add to my collection again. One thing that has stood out to me over the past number of years has been the difference between access and ownership. Though I've been reticent to sign up for any subscriptions, I have joined a few as a result of being offered them through work. The first thing I noticed with these subscriptions was just how variable and capricious they are, changing at the whims of the subscription service. While having access is arguably more minimalist than owning a physical item, I found that I couldn't stand not knowing how much longer I could enjoy something. There have been times where I was excited to see something being offered, only to realize that I was on an outdated webpage and that the item had since been removed.

Although I have yet to find the right balance between having too many books (and actually reading them!) and not hoarding them, I have appreciated the access I have had to my own library. My goal is still to read as many books as possible so that I can develop a more curated collection, but I recognize that will take time. The limitation of only having so many shelves is further reinforcement of that fact!