I met a lovely woman at the Charlotte Mason Conference who has several thousand books in her home. When I asked if she had a library (i.e. one room in her home dedicated to books), she responded that their whole house is the library! She said pretty much every room but the bathrooms are used to store books. Ahh, someday . . .

For now, we just have our books in one room. Wanna see? I didn’t want to give the (wrong) impression that I’m a wonderful housekeeper, so I just left the dirty socks and chewed up board book on the rug. I’m real like that =) Except for the light fixture which I despise, this is really a very lovely room. The two walls that aren’t covered in books have enormous picture windows (facing North and East, so the books are never in direct sunlight) and we have three comfy couches and a comfy chair with an ottoman. We have bible study in here (we bring in a few chairs from the dining room) and I love it!

At the bottom of this next picture is our Ambleside Online first grade shelf, with some storybooks (for family readalouds) on the shelf above that and some random stuff on the shelf above that.

On the bottom of the next photo is our Ambleside Online second grade shelf. The shelf above that is bibles (of various translations) and some devotionals. The shelf above that is nature study (partial).

This next picture is the bookshelf in the middle of the 1st and 2nd grade shelves. It houses our large format books – mostly art. I try to find art books with large prints by a single painter – and not much commentary. The shelf above that is some more nature study. The two shelves above that are biographies, which I am now going to organize by Dewey decimal system – I can’t wait!

Here’s the top half of the 1st grade bookshelf – the top shelf is Ambleside Online 3rd and 4th grades. The shelf below that is CS Lewis and Elizabeth Eliot. They both really need their own shelves, but I need more bookshelves! I’m not willing to cram each shelf full of books – I think bookshelves need white space and some objects to be comfortable in a living space. I think these are way too crowded now, but what can I say, we’re in transition.

Top shelf is overflow from 5th and 6th grades (mostly the paperbacks). The shelf below that is the regular 5th and 6th grade books. Then 7th and 8th below that.

And see that burgundy book (that’s Miracle Gal, Kent’s grandmother’s excellent autobiography). Well, behind that, I have my most recent exciting finds . . . These are all on the AO list and I got them for only $2 each! Aren’t they beautiful? I hate to cover them up, but again, I need more bookshelves! =)

Next is the top half of the third bookshelf (above the 2nd grade shelf) which houses the high school books (I’m trying not to buy these because I don’t have the room – and my oldest is only 4 years old). Below that is the Shakespeare shelf, flanked by our steins from Germany. Below that is poetry (but some poetry in on the grade shelf), with some biography overflow.

  

Homeschooling books for the teacher/parent with health/nutrition below (and some prepping books and Tenth Amendment Nullification books thrown in). To the right (what looks like a photo in a black frame) is our large format family yearbooks (the Handfield Chronicles). I do one per year but our trip to Germany and our wedding have their own albums). And I am over two years behind!

The top shelf in the next photo is music (composer study, hymn study, folk song study, etc. . . ). Below that is my active “pile of stuff.” Near the bottom of my pile there is a portfolio that I am using for my own picture study and hymn study.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The middle shelf in the next photo contains some books that I have no intention of reading – I just like to look at them.

 

 

 

Christian books, alphabetized by author on the top shelf, with more on the shelf below – and some homesteading books on home design.

 

Pregnancy and child training books, loosely arranged by age group referenced. Then, my homesteading books below that with nature study books (parent resources) too.

 

Charlotte Mason saw books as literally the child’s teacher – she talks about how the children have a direct relationship with the book itself.

I recently read a study that looked at children from several countries in vastly different socioeconomic situations, the parents had different levels of education, etc, and the best indicator of the child’s future success (whatever that means) was whether the family had more than 500 books in the home.

Do you live with lots of books? Share in the comments.