the books are ganging up on us again

[cellio]

We ran out of shelf space (and pile space) again, so, having long since filled all the good spaces in the house with bookcases, we started eyeing up the not-so-good spaces. This led us to re-evaluate the dining room.
The shorter, wider, not-very-deep cabinet on one wall (holding linens

Comments

[cellio]

I gathered that you like tea quite a bit, but I didn't realize just how much of it you drink. :-)

[fauxklore]

I am on the verge of having furniture custom made so I can get what I actually want.

At least books are good insulation.

[cellio]

We did that for some hard-to-fit places in the house. It's worth it in the long run if you can't get what you want otherwise.

I don't know how much this insulation matters in our hundred-year-old house, but I'll take it.

[browngirl]

Books, glorious books...

[cellio]

Indeed!

One (easy-to-satisfy) constraint is that the books about food glorious food must remain in the corner closest to the kitchen. (I don't have room in the kitchen for the cookbooks...)

[merle_]

I've occasionally thought about setting up a trust fund when I die to keep my apartment open as a library. What with the people who don't return books, in about two decades all the books might fit double-stacked on the shelves!

[cellio]

But you should arrange some way to send out overdue notices anyway -- maybe a bar-code scanner wired into the door combined with a bot. :-)

[merle_]

I did get (and hack) some of the CueCat barcode scanners when they were free! Not a bad idea. They use a PS/2 keyboard interface, though...

[patsmor]

The night manager at the residence hotel I'm staying at and I started a lending library for the hotel last night. A friend sent me a book; S (the manager) mentioned that all my friends are re-using Amazon boxes. I mentioned that I have bought some used books recently, but now have more books than I want -- in a 500 sq ft (I think it's really 460) studio there is NO room to keep excess books.

S was missing reading -- hadn't had a book to read in a few weeks. So together we founded the ExtendedStayAmerica Austin NW lending library!

I brought a pretty box down with 10-12 books I enjoyed but don't want; he chose one, and now anyone who wants to borrow or donate can contribute. I'm considering putting the box in the laundry room next to the tourist brochures.

Edited to add: When I eventually settle and have all my stuff moved back with me, I'll definitely have to buy bookshelves -- I sold most of mine before we packed the POD.

[cellio]

"Need a book, take a book; have a book, leave a book"? :-)

[patsmor]

Perfect!