Books book culture Things I Wish I’d Known When Starting a Book Collection Handy advice for overly enthusiastic bookworms (you know who you are) By James Davis Nicoll | Published on December 2, 2025 Photo: Mariia Zakatiura [via Unsplash] Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Mariia Zakatiura [via Unsplash] I never thought about amassing a personal collection of books. Or rather, I never thought about not amassing a personal collection of books. This is because my parents had assembled their own library, a mix of popular fiction, science texts, history books, rocket manuals, and so on. Therefore it seemed like standard practice, in my mind, that people would assemble their own libraries that I only wondered how to acquire one and with what to fill it1. Acquisition is just the first of the issues one has to tackle. In fact, after more than half a century of slowly accruing and managing my little collection, I have learned of precautions that I certainly wish had been outlined for me way back when. Some of what follows might sound dull or even onerous, but this advice can save you time better spent reading (and perhaps even money)… To start with something that doesn’t matter to me (but might to others): know why you are reading. There are at least two2 approaches to collecting books: to read them or to consider them as an investment. I buy to read. If you buy to resell3, be aware that most books do not become more valuable over time, and also that it can be difficult to predict what will appreciate4. I have no idea how to acquire the necessary assessment skills because I have no interest in acquiring them. Organize sooner rather than later. Organization will help reduce the number of times you accidentally buy the same book twice (I wrote this article on the very morning I discovered that I owned two copies of Michael Kurland’s Pluribus). It will also let you find specific books in your collection without days or weeks of searching5. It really doesn’t matter how you organize as long as it is a system that suits your needs6. Again, start early: it is a lot easier to sort and track a couple of hundred books than it is to organize thousands7. It’s also a good idea to record what you have8. I, uh, will have to do that for my paper books at some point (see above, re: Pluribus). Every time I look at the collection and think about scanning in every book—hand inputting for the ones too old to have bar codes—I get very, very tired and wander off to do something else. If you collect ebooks, get a decent ebook manager. I use Calibre, but I am sure there are equally satisfactory alternatives. If you collect physical books… The thing about physical books is that they have volume and mass, both of which need to be kept in mind. For example, you can optimize shelf space by sorting books by size. A 226 cm column of Ikea Ivar shelving, for example, might fit ten shelves of mass market paperbacks, but only seven or eight shelves of hardcovers. If you mix mass market with hardcovers, you’re limited by the hardcovers. Books also have mass, something that only began to fill me with terror when I discovered the load limit of the average second floor. Many second floors are only rated for 250 kilograms per square meter… if the contractor actually stuck to spec. Now consider that 226 cm tall, ten shelf Ivar stack. Figure there are 30 books per shelf, each massing .3 kilograms. 30 x .3 x 10 = 90 kilograms, on an area of about .3 square meters or about 300 kilograms per square meter. Do not mess with overloading floors. Ideally, an overengineered basement floor is best (except there’s the damp issue, not to mention flooding). Always place shelves next to load-bearing walls, not in the middle of a joist. Be conservative in load calculations or your second-floor library might become your basement library. Which would be bad9, especially for anyone on the first floor. Despite all that, books are great! I don’t regret a moment spent reading books10. That said, even the most bookwormy bookworm should occasionally wander out into the sunshine11, mingle with people, and make friends. An active social life makes it less likely you will forget how to wear trousers! Discussing books with people can be fun! …But more importantly, you’re going to want help every time you have to move. Cases of books are heavy.[end-mark] And here’s where I’ll add the necessary acknowledgment of extreme privilege. ︎Well, three reasons if we count collecting books as physical artifacts. Not to sell, but just because you love them as artifacts. Beyond being inexplicably fussy about cover art, that’s not my jam, but I can see how it could be someone else’s. ︎John Dunning’s Cliff Janeway is a rare book dealer with a talent for stumbling over mysteries. What Cliff sees when he looks at books is fascinatingly different from what I see. ︎I was astonished to see a Traveller Collector’s Edition omnibus of books 1–8 being flogged for over $1000.00 USD. ︎Or in the case of CBC’s Clyde Gilmour, and a certain misfiled album, a decade… which is why Mrs. Gilmour took over filing duties. ︎My parents’ system for cataloging their mysteries was to use a bookish kid as their card catalog. The flaw in that system involves the kid’s propensity for traumatic head injuries and frequent anoxia, both of which turn out to be bad if your goal isn’t neurological bonsai. ︎Or millions. Although at least the library I helped computerize started off mostly organized. Organizing a few million randomly sorted books would be a challenge. ︎A list of books to look for is also good. At least, it’s good for the booksellers who want your money. ︎UW’s Dana Porter Arts Library, like many academic libraries, has attracted an urban legend that the architect forgot the weight of the books, so the library is sinking. Not true. However, I do know of a case on the same campus where a space was commandeered for an unofficial library and where the load was not properly considered. After a few months, the whole structure peeled itself off the wall. ︎At least not since I discovered people would pay me to complain about books. ︎Unless you live in Ontario, in which case replace “sunshine” with “endless bleak winter overcast.” ︎The post Things I Wish I’d Known When Starting a Book Collection appeared first on Reactor.