How I got rid of over 50 books and stopped regretting about it.

When I decided to de-clutter my flat for the first time, the main struggle was clear from the first sight - books. Unlike most of other things, they rose my feelings of regret with every little thought of throwing them away. I must mention — books are my passion — reading for me is one of the most favorite ways of spending time. So getting rid of books for me was like a loss of a treasure case - stupid and pity.

Bookshelves de-cluttering was delayed to the very last moment - my flat was getting emptier and my "treasure" problem was getting bolder. On a mental level, it was clear that getting rid of books doesn't mean getting rid of knowledge. However, books gave me enormous feelings of adventures and open a world of different feelings and throwing away books meant some disrespect to the stories and authors. 

Here I also have to mention the fact - I cannot read electronic books, mostly due to my eyes problem (monitor reading makes my eyes red), and I love the paper book reading - makes me focus faster. That is why I got comparably more books than others did.

In addition, all my childhood I was dreaming of making a family library at my apartment. Minimalism made me ask myself: “Why do I need this?” I am not a type of person who loves re-reading same novels, so what is the point of keeping the books that I already read? This question made me put some actions towards my “stack of adventures”. 

I realized that putting books in the trash bin is just impossible, so I had to think of something else. My books were of an average edition and most of them were classic literature - selling them is impossible. Some of the books I gave to my relatives, friends, however, still a lot of left. 

Here are three most efficient (for me) ways of dealing with books:

1. Public hiding/leaving
This is also what Emma Watson is known for (not photos). You are reading a book and hiding it in a public place: café, park bench, metro seat. You can even come to strangers and give them books directly. I understand that it sounds rather weird, however, in this way you know that your books will be used and someone else will also experience imaginary adventures like you did.

2. Books exchange
There are a lot of different services for the book exchanges – local and worldwide. It is a great and rather unusual way of decluttering your bookshelves. One of the biggest book exchanges that I know is http://bookmooch.com. 

3. Local library
If your books are in good conditions, you can go to your local library and donate them your books. If books are too old/damaged, sometimes they have a use for them as well. If they just do not need your books (for different reasons), then ask if they have “give away’s” – most of the libraries are making book checks once-twice a year (even libraries are decluttering), after this procedure they are giving away certain book copies for free. During the “give away”, just come and leave your “treasure” – all the books that are not taken by others are recycled.