Despite living in a very digital age, there are many valid reasons for having a personal reference library at home that is compromised of books and other print materials.
The internet comes with many blessings but complete reliance on it for practical skill building could be a mistake for a few reasons.
Building a personal reference library can serve our homes in a variety of ways and no matter how many times the internet can save our collective hides, a resource library is invaluable and should never be completely skipped over.
Why Build a Library in Our Modern Society?
With the amount of book banning and other crazy stuff going on – it’s time to make sure you have physical books and other materials available to you when you need them.
The rise of AI also means we may not be getting the best or most accurate information. A few trusted books can often give us plenty of information we can rely on without worrying about unsafe AI infomation.
Having information that doesn’t rely on electricity to access is also a wise measure. Natural disasters happen, having information you need in book form means you read and learn what you might need to know quickly.
The Wonders of a Personal Library
An online search engine is a wonderful thing. We search for ideas on how to repair equipment, look for recipes, watch videos on how to light a bee smoker and more. There are bloggers and videos and so much information online. It’s a blessing of our current society.
However, it can be limited and searching can sometimes lead us down strange rabbit holes that leave us even more confused. A solidly built personal reference library can alleviate that confusion. A library built with books and materials that are most suited to personal priorities can provide answers, guide, and inspire new ways of thinking and living.
Ebooks can be cheap, heck they can even be free. As a reader and writer of ebooks, I realize their value and importance. However, there are so many reasons that we shouldn’t trust all of the information to be safe and secure. Loss of power, emergencies, natural disasters, etc. etc. mean that we need to have some physical back-up to our knowledge base.
A personal library is more than just purchased books. Ideally, it’s a combination of books, journals, magazines, and more. It’s a collection of resources that suit the person and the home most uniquely. It should be an amassing of information that makes the library completely unique and absolutely perfect for the household it serves.
Start with Books
Obviously, we need to buy some books. But it’s not a matter of buying books I think are good or that someone else suggests. Find books that fit the needs of your home. Beekeepers should have beekeeping books. Herbalists should have herbal books.
There are, of course, a number of interests in every home so make sure the books reflect the interests and goals. My own shelves are a mix of herbal remedies, gardening information, cookbooks, craft books, and more.
A Mix of Old & New
Keep those bookshelves full of classic resources and newly released works. Having modern books assures that the canning information is up-to-date and safe as an example. Old books can provide us with skills and ideas that we as a society are losing and for that reason alone are worth keeping and preserving – learning from too.
Family heirloom cookbooks are great for the basics, for example. Newer cookbooks are more likely to contain the flavors and ingredients we’re more accustomed too. Older books can sometimes provide us with a different perspective as well and I find that quite refreshing. The interviews in the old Foxfire books, for example, provide me with inspiration, gratitude, and a whole lot of desire to try harder.
Read reviews for newer books and be sure to look through used books at yard sales, flea markets, and library sales for older resources to add to your library.
Add Some Magazines
For the most part, to avoid clutter, I’m a bigger fan of clipping articles from magazines and filing those into binders but every now and then there might be entire issues we want to keep. Add those to your personal library. Store them in magazine boxes to keep them neat.
Binders of Clippings & Printables
Instead of keeping entire magazines, keep the pertinent stuff and recycle the rest. Organize the clippings in three ring binders by subject. Do the same thing with recipe clippings – organize by meal or ingredient. All those printables, ebooks, and ecourse materials can also be organized by subject. Keep them printed double-sided and in black and white to make the most of paper and printing costs.
Personal Journals
Keep copies of the homestead journal, personal diaries, and notebooks from classes in the library. These notes and records can often be the most valuable sources of what works and doesn’t. Keep an index of the journals for easy reference when needed.
From a seasonal living perspective, there is nothing more valuable to me than my own records so I know when to generally look for ripe thimbleberries and when I harvested violets last year.
How to Keep it from Being Cluttered
This is not permission or advice to hoard resources from other people or our communities. We should absolutely share whenever possible.
It is also not permission to have an unnecessary amount of clutter. Go through the library now and then and donate books that aren’t used often. This is a great way to share in free little libraries in more. Recycle clippings or printables that simply aren’t being used effectively. W
hen using tutorials or recipes in the binders, don’t keep the ones that were flops or simply not liked. Be brutal and keep the personal library limited to a certain number of book shelves to prevent from spilling over and out of control.
A personal resource library can be the thing that provides answers to problems, both large and small, while also providing constant sources of inspiration and encouragement. Build it slowly and wisely so that it can serve the home for years to come.
Wesley Wesolowski
Wednesday 18th of October 2023
I used to have 325 books in every topic that wasn't about fiction but more non fiction from military history cooking engineering studies math chemistry politics human physiology bird watching naval architecture and athletic training self improvement and today I still off grid living cooling anatomy and survival books and peppers and more.
Kathy Hutton
Friday 14th of April 2017
I get most of my magazines from the recycle program at the Library, so I copy the articles or recipes. I then slide them in the plastic 3 ring holders and into my binder. I have crafts, gardening, recipes, and decorating. That way the next person can enjoy the article too. And I don't have to pay for or have the clutter of many magazines laying around. I do this once a week and at the end of the month add my magazines to the return pile.