Fascinating to think of the various reasons we collect and keep books. For me, a collection of books is not just a to-do or have-done list, nor is it decoration—it's about browsing and being able to browse, just like a larger library.
My wife pesters me to purge our books because, for her, if a book has been read or will never be read, then why keep it? My answer is, a library is a collection not of books but of the unknown. A space to swim in, maybe get lost in, for a while; to get inspired, to prepare for a project, to pick up a book with no intention to read it cover-to-cover, but to skim and browse and think via objects.
This is why, in contrast to your advice to get read of college or reference books, I think these are worth keeping. Not for sentiment, but for access to knowledge that isn't through a screen. In this way a library should be greater than the sum of its parts.
Fascinating to think of the various reasons we collect and keep books. For me, a collection of books is not just a to-do or have-done list, nor is it decoration—it's about browsing and being able to browse, just like a larger library.
My wife pesters me to purge our books because, for her, if a book has been read or will never be read, then why keep it? My answer is, a library is a collection not of books but of the unknown. A space to swim in, maybe get lost in, for a while; to get inspired, to prepare for a project, to pick up a book with no intention to read it cover-to-cover, but to skim and browse and think via objects.
This is why, in contrast to your advice to get read of college or reference books, I think these are worth keeping. Not for sentiment, but for access to knowledge that isn't through a screen. In this way a library should be greater than the sum of its parts.
If your space allows you to keep your books then KEEP them, but always be mindful that your brain also needs clear space to create.