Downsizing: Now the Books - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

Downsizing: Now the Books - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

Approximately 2,200,000 books are published each year. We have a modest share of them in our home. Or at least we had our share. In downsizing, there is the regrettable need to jettison books.

It was and is not easy. Like many of you, I became absorbed by books. I was a frequent visitor to my beloved neighborhood library where my first love was the story hour librarian who started me on the journey. Over the years,  I have collected plenty.

Diane and I thought we were ahead of the game because we had given away quite a few books some years ago. Not so. Empty bookshelves create a vacuum for more books. So, our shelves, bookstands, night tables, and briefcases were loaded, again. Thus, a repeat of a dilemma. What do we do now that our space will become limited?

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The first pass was to offer them to our children and grandchildren. Not only did they say, “No” to books, but they also said “No” to everything else.  “We have enough of our own stuff. Thanks, anyway.” Different generations, different tastes.

The local libraries accepted the books, graciously, as if they knew we needed relief. Especially after my fourth trip.  “Downsizing, huh?” It was gratifying to see our books on the complimentary shelves. I stopped, looked, and almost reclaimed a few. I chuckled when I turned away and walked, near ran, for the door.

Local charities will take some if they are in the mood. Some we set in the free book box, you know the ‘leave a book, take a book’ trend. Nobody wanted paperbacks so, sadly, we rested them in the recycle bin, staring at them, closing the lid ever so slowly, almost hearing a whimper. Oh, that was me.

Why the pain of discarding books? Because books become a part of you. The stories become you. They light up your imagination. They introduce you to the world and give you a perspective of your place in it. They are inveterate teachers. They give me confidence in my writing. “I can at least try to write like that.” In certain circumstances, a book can become your therapist.

It will be a while before I segue to the eBook. I love to hold a book. I love the musty smell of an old book. I use the margins of old paperbacks to script ideas for my writing.

Because books broaden your horizon, you become a book. Because books are endless, they make your life endless. You tie memories to that book; where you read it, when you read it, why you read it. On a plane. On the beach. In a café. In your room. In the library.

We read to remember. We read to forget. We read to renew. We read to ourselves. We read to each other. We read for salvation. Mary Oliver wrote, “I read the way a person might swim, to save his or her life.”

That’s why discarding books is so difficult. They are our saviors.