A Very Librarian Dilemma
For a very long time I have wanted to organize my books properly instead of just - put all books of the same size together, books of the same author together and then shove all other books where ever they fit on the shelf and double stack everything. Thanks to my soon to be beloved-former-roommates I now have a decent amount of bookshelf space but now I'm faced with a cataloging dilemma. My non-fiction was easy, I've organized everything by subject and within that general to specific. I've included children's lit/picture books with non-fiction. Manga will also be easy and that I plan to double stack.
The problem arises with my fiction collection, some of it is paperback of a standard size while some of it is in hardcover or paperback of a tall/non-standard size. Some of the bookshelves I have lend themselves better to one size or the other. So do I put hardcover fiction books in one bookcase and small paperbacks in a different one, even though it means separating books in the same series? Or do I shelve them together and deal with a large discrepancy in size? Do I double stack paperbacks in front of hardcovers of the same author since the taller bookshelf is also very deep? Do I seperate YA fiction from adult fiction, or do I intermingle them and organize them by genre so YA and adult fantasy are together and YA and adult realistic fiction are together. As a random side note- my realistic fiction section rather small and organizing by genre would mean putting a novel about the rivalry between to Go masters next to a fluffy Meg Cabot office romance. Throwing in the YA books would at least add a book about a teen pro chess player and a teen ballerina contemplating their place in the world and the cost of their chosen obsessions.
The genre vs. target age I can deal with, but the hardcover/paperback size vs series is a dilemma. I get the feeling I'll be trying several configurations before I'm happy.
The problem arises with my fiction collection, some of it is paperback of a standard size while some of it is in hardcover or paperback of a tall/non-standard size. Some of the bookshelves I have lend themselves better to one size or the other. So do I put hardcover fiction books in one bookcase and small paperbacks in a different one, even though it means separating books in the same series? Or do I shelve them together and deal with a large discrepancy in size? Do I double stack paperbacks in front of hardcovers of the same author since the taller bookshelf is also very deep? Do I seperate YA fiction from adult fiction, or do I intermingle them and organize them by genre so YA and adult fantasy are together and YA and adult realistic fiction are together. As a random side note- my realistic fiction section rather small and organizing by genre would mean putting a novel about the rivalry between to Go masters next to a fluffy Meg Cabot office romance. Throwing in the YA books would at least add a book about a teen pro chess player and a teen ballerina contemplating their place in the world and the cost of their chosen obsessions.
The genre vs. target age I can deal with, but the hardcover/paperback size vs series is a dilemma. I get the feeling I'll be trying several configurations before I'm happy.