How to Organize Your Library (Like a Christian) | The Home Librarian Series

[@areoivy]

I love having my books in chronological order! Even literature because you start to see where ideas come from and what people inspired each other.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Yes! Exactly!

[@crownpoint9]

I did that about 20 years ago, putting my true-story books in chronological order. My preaching books by author. My fiction books are mixed up but same authors are together. My reference-type books are separated by topic, but in no order. For example, I have a shelf of architecture how-to books. I have a shelf of Bibles and concordances. But, yes, my true books are by time when the hero lived.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Oh, lovely!

[@Yesica1993]

My opinion on abridged versions is that they need to be burned and the ashes transported to and buried in the deepest, darkest ocean where no human being can ever find them again. :)

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Hahaha, I don't understand why they exit. Who, in their pride, thought they could rightly alter the great books, knowing what we were all able to do without?!

[@Creative2xmom]

"I need to have all the books... just in case". This spoke to me. Just spent 4 days camping and disconnected. And packed 3 books. Really??? Yep. Never be without a good book.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Packing books is the hardest! How am I supposed to know what kind of mood I'll be in in three days?!

[@christianeelizabeth5602]

I LOVE that video of Wes Callahan! Roman Roads/Great Western Culture is something I’m looking forward to participating in as an adult.

[@Yesica1993]

I would've buy out their entire catalog if I could!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Isn't it so fun to watch him share his love of books?!

[@TheBookCourt]

Speaking of book organization, I finally made a tag on Goodreads just for books I read based on your recommendations.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Now that is quite the honor.

[@Yesica1993]

This video reminded me that some time ago I bought a book called, "Carpenter's New Geographical Reader", about Africa. I can't remember exactly where I got it, but it must have been one of the used bookstores. First copyright date says 1905. I had meant to read through it. I'm a geek who loves old textbooks. Alas, as often happens, it got lost on my bookshelf. This inspired me to dust it off. Thanks!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

I, too, lose things but so glad you are on the hunt to read it finally!

[@naturalmama_of_5]

This makes me feel so much better about my book buying habits 😂 "if have this book, but this one is hard cover so I need it"

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

That is the most common sense thing I've heard today. Obviously.

[@JannaWilson]

So many great nuggets, Autumn! Love the idea of chronological order for our libraries! I'm working on mine! Thanks for sharing!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Ooh enjoy!

[@pa1attention]

Your silver in your hair is so beautuful!! 😍

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Thank you!

[@sandraruiz4737]

Wonderful once again. Thank you for sharing your intellect with us!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

So glad you enjoyed it! Please watch Wes Callihan's full video! I think you'll love it!

[@SamanthaThorsonGarrett]

You know I was fully cheering and saying a hearty amen about giving the people inspiring ideas. 🙌🏻 I'm going to go watch Wes Callahan's video next. What an interesting idea to organize a library chronologically. I've never heard of that, going to have to prep my husband about a potential biiiiig change. Ha!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Give 'em what they need! And enjoy that book reorganizing!

[@laurabusch7067]

This feels like a weird comment to leave, so I’ll start by saying I loved this video and thank you! But I need to know. Where can I find other channels like yours?! I feel like I have found MY PEOPLE listening to this and reading the comments 😆 I am a traditional classical homeschool mom and I don’t really know anyone who shares my values and passions in this area. I can’t get enough of the discussions and thoughts you present in your videos. I want more!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Well, I'm not sure about KZbinrs but I do love the CiRCE Institute and all that comes out of their work! You could consider joining us in Common House. There are about 550 of us-from around the world-having conversations like these. And I make a ton of resources just for them! No pressure! commonhouse.mn.co

[@CharlotteMasonTT]

Autumn. I love the aesthetic with the greys !!! Thanks

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Thank you! Very kind of you to say!

[@heidib.4089]

We are going to do this! A great family and summer project. We have two library book sales coming up and I’m so hoping that they will be selling some quality (old and classical) books!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Can I come? Love a good library sale.

[@crownpoint9]

I always thought one of my seven children would want my 2,000-3,000 book library. But it appears that none do. I am 72 and it breaks my heart to get rid of it.

[@tayloranthony4322]

😭😭😭 One day they will regret it. You can send them my way 😅

[@akieffer]

That's so sad. I've always wanted to build a library.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

This would make me very sad too. I think parents have always felt pained when children have scoffed at their inheritances. But it doesn't mean your gift wasn't gold.

[@Celticbavarian]

Just beginning to watch but I am looking for ideas beyond thrifting. Love the prices. Don’t love the mold and other smells. 😮

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Yeah, they do have an old smell. As I've been looking for more rare books (at the $60-$100 range), I've found my best tip is to keep a whole separate window open on my computer with the search tabs open. Every week, I refresh, scope it out again, and then minimize it. I never forget what I'm looking for and it gives me a regular search habit!

[@penguinblanche]

You can put smelly items in a bag with a ripe banana until the banana turns black. The gas it puts off as it ripens helps eliminate musty and other odors. Worth a try if you find a good book at a very very low price while thrifting.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

@@penguinblanche WHAT. Amazing.

[@StorybookHouse]

I would look at websites like Yesterday's Classics and Purple House Press and others. They are reprints and brand new. If price is a factor, you could try looking into a virtual school program that provides books like these for free. For example, Wisconsin and Indiana have a school called Academy of Excellence that pays for free books of your choosing (within some parameters). It's not for everyone because then you are under their umbrella insated of homeschooling on your own, but for building a library it could be an option --and you avoid the smelly old books.

[@tayloranthony4322]

This is such a great video Autumn! About the fundamentals of books, and ideas, and how they beautifully collide and why they even matter. I treasure this one!!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Thank you!

[@jennawilson_]

Thank you for another wonderful video! May I ask where you bought that beautiful dress?

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Thank you! This one is actually a shirt! It's an old blouse from Madewell.

[@Clintboyd]

Ideas have consequences. Yes! Great video. Shalom from Houston! Subscribed.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Thank you! Happy to have you here.

[@morgananderson4917]

I’m very new to all things classical education, and life. I certainly want a library full of beautiful old books and ideas, but I’m overwhelmed with where to start, and feel that I’m just not quite smart enough to read and understand all the old books! Anyone have a first classic book suggestion to ease me in and help me gain momentum?

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

We have all been there! This is exactly why I started The Commonplace podcast (and then the KZbin): to help find a path forward through the overwhelm! I highly recommend John Senior's Thousand Good Book List. Find to where you've read already and keep going from there. (Pay no attention to the "grade" levels!) seascs.net/documents/2017/10/John%20Senior%20The%20Thousand%20Good%20Books%20List.pdf

[@breedavis1275]

LOVED this video!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

So happy to hear it!

[@davidschmidt5507]

This was helpful to me as an Orthodox Jew as well!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Fantastic! I'm so glad.

[@Hookhamhomestead]

My thought would be how on earth would I find the books I am looking for? I would have to get to really know my authors and books a lot more and with hundreds and thousands of books that would be quite the task. I can’t imagine doing this for picture books and all those early year books

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Ah, well, there is the serendipitous "found it an an old bookstore" moment, which I may or may not live for. Then, there's Google. The depths of Google. You make a really good point. You need to *know* your authors OR have a guide. This is why I love the canon of Western civilization. You can't know everything. You can't judge everything. But we do have a collective list of what has been agreed upon as the great books or authors and you can let that be your guide while you build!

[@Hookhamhomestead]

@@thecommonplacehomeschool I mean finding the books on my own shelves organized by published date 🤣 I think it would be daunting to try and remember what was published when for when I try to find a certain book in my own bookshelves

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

@@Hookhamhomestead Oh oh oh! I see. But if you're generally aware of the book's ideas, you will learn when in the stream of thought those ideas appeared!

[@janellewhite8030]

First!!! I love it all, Autumn!!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Woop! Thank you!

[@CornerTalker]

Yea for beautiful books. Yea for spines of beauty. Yea for books with quality paper. Yea for books with wide margins and greater spacing.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Yea for beauty!

[@sugarspice7768]

Off topic. Are you planning on going gray? I'm been going gray for the past year and I'm on the fence. I kind of like my gray. My best friend has decided to go gray and she looks beautiful. You look stunning either way, but I would love to here your perspective.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Rather on topic for me, as you can tell. Yes, that's the plan! I still have quite awhile before my hair has grown out fully but I've had fun (and some panic) saying, "Oh, so this is what I *actually* look like." Starting reason: hoping to give my daughter (and sons!) a healthy view of aging and beauty and realness and the like. Added reason: hoping to do the same for me.

[@sugarspice7768]

Oh I love that. Thanks for sharing. I'm partially worried about chemicals, partially just too lazy to keep up with my hair. 😅

[@AndreaSorial]

Omg the Buckley Books 🥰🥰

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Aren't they beauties?!

[@Yesica1993]

4:30 "Ideas Have Consequences" is the name of a new podcast by Larry Alex Taunton. It's a fantastic resource on learning how and why culture is where it is today. I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm going to guess that maybe his library and yours overlap. 6:10 "I like to think of reason as a hype girl. It will confirm to you whatever idea you have already accepted." Have you developed this further in a different video? I don't know how to communicate with anyone in any other way, other than using reason. Needless to say, I am losing my mind in today's culture. People can't seem to follow a logical train of thought, let alone use one of their own. It's all emotionalism.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Oh, lovely! I haven't heard of that one. Thank you! I have a few resources expanding Mason's thoughts on this: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-14-the-way-of-the-will-and-the/id1568956517?i=1000579560352 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-16-the-way-of-the-reason-principles-18-19/id1568956517?i=1000582482104 kzbin.info/www/bejne/noC6iZJ7md2nhpo

[@TanyaAnderson45]

I LOVE your glasses. Where are they from?🤓

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Warby Parker! Watts, maybe?

[@kaylastarr3822]

I'm fascinated by the image of reason as a gype girl. Definitely going to try and remember that.😅

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

It's a helpful thing to keep in mind!

[@akieffer]

So, most of a classical education approach is based on Western thought and wisdom. Do you ever explore Eastern thought? Especially since youve begun exploring Orthodoxy? How do you decide which Eastern thought is worth reading, exploring, learning, incorporating into your worldview?

[@akieffer]

I ask because I would love to find some good Eastern classics to add to my Western classics as I grow my library. And surely there are Good, True, and Beautiful things and ideas I'm missing out on from other parts of the world.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

YES. So, the Western classical tradition is built on Western thought/civilization. We are formed mostly by it, so we study what we inherit. However, of course, there is wisdom in the 'canons' of other parts of the world! (There is a new book on the six liberal arts of the Chinese Classical Tradition. Katerina Kern of CiRCE has spoken on the African classical tradition -- I believe she was in Uganda? -- etc etc.) If you've not read The Abolition of Man by Lewis, let me recommend it for this conversation. But as you read (or, at least, as I read), you start tracing ideas to other places and works. You will certainly discover treasures from other places. It's only right. Mostly I've grown the folktales, fairytales, and myths from other places. I hope to find more in the future!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Oh, I forgot to answer how to choose: So the western canon deals with what's common to man. These are the questions, hopes, pains, struggles of the common person, right? So look for the similar threads in other places. There will be differences in the art, form, character, etc. in each place, but we're all wrestling with what it means to be a person, how to define and "get" the good life, and, ultimately, why do we exist?

[@akieffer]

@@thecommonplacehomeschool Thanks! I'll have to look into the stuff from CiRCE. I have read Abolition of Man, but I'm probably due for a re-read soon. :)

[@caitlinrl630]

Autumn, so happy to see you recommending CiRCE… when I first came across your podcast I figured you were connected to CiRCE based on last name alone 😂 whoops! (I go to church with about half of CiRCE staff. The Orthodox half lol)

[@orglancs]

As a non-Christian I have been wondering what on earth it means to organise books 'like a Christian'. And would you notice any difference if you came and looked at my books, all 2,000 of them? After five minutes I am none the wiser, so I am switching off.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

I might notice. It may be one of those things that is hard to grasp without being within it.

[@crownpoint9]

Let me tell you about the perfect book case. I call it a modular stile. Iy will fit into any room and it is easy to move. It is two feet wide and seven feet tall. There is a shelf about every foot. The top shelf is 4 inches lowered. The bottom shelf is 4 inches up. Find me if you want the pattern. I have one bedroom size room walk to wall with these, and one in many other rooms.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Very nice! We're going the floating shelf route in our homeschool nook but thank you!

[@akieffer]

I always pack too many books too. Always have.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

My kind of person.

[@akieffer]

I feel called out. I love YA fantasy/fiction. I don't know about calling it "trashy," (unless you just mean the erotica people read a lot these days) but I do think of it as brain candy or junk food.

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Ha! KZbin shows me a lot of booktubers on my home page and 99% of the videos center around YA series like forbidden, kidnappy loves stories with dark alien princes and what not. While I love encountering a potato chip at a party, you can't eat 'em regularly. Stories, like food, do something to you and I'm wary of anyone feasting on most of what I see on YT or a walk through the teen section of our local library. Ah, one note: "Eating" the great books doesn't mean just the mighty classics! Commonly good books are the bulk of a regular reading diet! But mediocre or counterfeit books (what I'm talking about) damage us. Joshua Gibbs has much to say about this. Loved his book Love What Lasts!

[@lydiacerdhe4060]

I have a love for classical books but I too have a love for young adult books! 😅 The ones I love and reach for again and again are several series from Melanie Dickerson. She takes fairy tales and rewrites them into history, replacing the magic part with teachings about God and having faith in His plan. I highly recommend them!

[@akieffer]

@@thecommonplacehomeschool Yeah, I've noticed that YA fiction seems to be getting darker and more adult in recent years. I think that's because of how many adults read YA fiction. It's unfortunate.