red sock's Profile

They're enormous for anyone who makes less than six figures a year. I pay $1200 for 200sq in a less than stellar neighborhood.

I have a 20-drawer card catalog on legs. I am absolutely in love with it and use it for organization as well. I found it for $75 on Craigslist (Boston), keep checking!

great pic of Boston!

Fellow academic and book lover here as well, who lives in a very tiny studio. I first separate my books three ways.

First, I have the books I'm using for current research at my (work) office, where I do most of my writing. Mind you, I also scan these books into Papers so they're accessible at home as well, but they serve me well living in an active work space.

Second, I keep my novels and nonfiction separate. My novels/fiction I keep to a minimum and use the library for pleasure reading whenever I can so trade paperbacks that I'll never read again don't pile up. However, I do like to hang on to classics and favorites, and these live in a small decorative bookshelf in my living room/bedroom that I use as a nightstand. I organize these books by color, as I rarely refer to them and I think it's pretty.

For my nonfiction (which is a majority of my library), I use IKEA's original Billy (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/83688210/). I have the shelves lining my long entry hallway and plan to "build them in" soon (http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/11/from-billys-to-built-ins/). I like the look of having all of the same shelving in one place, and hallways are a great way to keep everything together, and if the hallway is wide enough, the shelves are intrusive.

I organize my books by subject and author so they're easy to find. Most of my books are history books, and I like to add a souvenir of my travels to each geographic group to aesthetics, storage, and to easily see which shelf holds which subject. For example, I have a jade Buddha with my Chinese history books, a shell I found in Ireland with my Irish history books, etc. I also keep over-sized books together, stacked horizontally on one shelf with a few accessories.

My library books also live at my office, or, if at home, on floating shelves near my desk to keep myself from hoarding them! However, I do tend to scan these books into Papers and then return them. Since I can't write on them anyway, they might as well live digitally (although I do print them out sometimes).

Like @dulcibella said, if the bookcases are all the same (which is why I like the Billy system, as you can always add more shelving as your collection grows and know that you can match what you have), and if the books are all flush with the front of the shelves, things will look very neat. I prefer the darker Billy shelving, as it looks less cheap than the ash finish.

Enjoy your new home and best of luck with the new job!

We always used to go there to see the colored turkeys when I was a kid!