Setting up the family library

It always takes me awhile to settle into a new home, probably even a year.  Settling into a farm may even take longer.  I have two running lists to help me along the way, To Buy: and To Do: and I'm not sure which one is longer.  I don't expect to clear them all this year but at least they'll keep me focused.

Setting up the family library was high on the To Do list and the older boys were very helpful in accomplishing the task.  It wasn't the quickest of projects because we all fell subject to "bookland" (as my kids call it), getting lost in the pages of our favorite books.   

In our last home books where organized by owner, each child had their own sections and organized them as they wished.  With this move we decided to change that system and adopted a more traditional library system with non-fiction by subject and fiction alphabetically by author.

It took a bit of rearranging to get it right.  The very top shelf was reserved for Paul since none of us could even reach it on a chair.

The homeschool room's built in shelves hold most of the fiction and the non fiction is organized by cube on these Ikea Expedit bookcases.  There are two of them, one for technical stuff like science, math, DIY books, animals, etc. The other contains history, biographies, geography and poetry.  More than curriculum I rely on (and spend money on) a diversified library for my children's education.

Family photo albums, church books, scriptures, coffee table books, really old books and the kids journals are kept on the built in shelves in the living room.

The kitchen has a nice shelf for cook books and the younger kids have their own Ikea Expedit shelf (laying horizontally) full of board books and picture books their level.  There is no picture of this shelf since it is always a mix jumbled with toys, but after listening to Rachel and Oliver DeMille's Core and Love of Learning I just let it be. A tidy bookshelf may be too much to ask of little kids, I'd rather them just enjoy books.

Back to my To DO list, I still haven't set up my sewing station.  Before I do that we (actually just Paul) needs to finish off some stuff in the basement. In the meantime the older kids may have to share their cozy homeschool space with the clutter of my sewing.  Taking down wall paper and painting is also on my To Do list but it keeps getting pushed to the bottom.  

As for my To Buy list, I'm on the look out for some new (or very used) night stands that would hold a nice pile of bedtime reading material because our family library is one that typically extends to anywhere one finds a cozy spot.