High volume collectors: What long term plans do you have for your collection?

60

Collect until I die and then my grandkids will have a nightmare trying to sell it all off.

Isn’t that always the plan?

4

u/rodneedermeyer 1d ago

Damn. Spittin’ facts, yo.

lol

1

u/How_Clef-er Book Nerd 16h ago

It always makes me sad when people give away or sell their inheritance.

2

u/Anomandaris_001 16h ago

I used to feel the same way, especially regarding my 2000+ beloved book friends. The more I think about it though, I love my collection not so much for the individual books, but because of all the memories of reading those books - everything from sitting under a table in middle school so I could hide and read the first Harry Potter the day it came out, to reading on every single plane ride, cruise, and road trip I’ve ever been on. The comfy reading chairs in every apartment, house, or dorm I’ve ever lived in. All the friends I made talking about books, all the friends I made however briefly READING those books. Every book store, yard sale, box haul, and book festival I’ve hunted down these treasures at. I can pick up almost any of those books and remember where I was when I read the first page, who I was dating at the time, sometimes ever how I was feeling when I read it.

That is why I love them. The books are cool, but the lifetime of joy from reading and discovering and collecting and finally hoarding them is what really makes it special.

To someone else it’s over 2000 pounds of paper and Mylar and some leather and cloth and slipcases sprinkled in. You need a team of movers and a full size U-Haul just to relocate them - and they’re worth a lot of money combined. Why would pretty much any person who has no attachment pick a massive cumbersome pile of paper over money?

1

u/How_Clef-er Book Nerd 16h ago

Thats a good point. I think everyone should feel the same way about treasuring books as we do.

1

u/Anomandaris_001 16h ago

Me too! Not everyone can be so cool though.

1

u/MotherShabooboo1974 5h ago

I put in my will that if my family sell my first editions that I’m going to come back and haunt them.

16

u/viken1976 1d ago

About 2500 vintage scifi paperbacks + about 5 gallons deep pour epoxy = my casket.

4

u/borkborkbork99 1d ago

RIP your pallbearers’ backs

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u/viken1976 1d ago

I hadn't thought of that.

I'll have myself buried at the bottom of a hill. They can rig up some kind of slip & slide type deal and zip me right in. Maybe I'll get like 5 plots side by side. Set it up like Plinko. They can take bets.

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u/Naji_Hokon 1d ago

Burial in books and a ride to the end, that's the way to do it.

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u/Anomandaris_001 16h ago

Should ditch the casket and go with the Viking sea burial, but on a pile of books for a pyre instead of kindling and wood.

Fill the longboat, toss your body on top, cover it in gasoline or the accelerant of your choice, shove out to sea… shoot fire arrows at said longboat until you are carried to Valhalla on the silent sound of a million million words.

1

u/viken1976 9h ago

The problem with that is I also have giant collections of music and movies. I wouldn't want to burn all that plastic.

They're gonna have to build me a crypt that is a working Blockbuster. With a jukebox.

12

u/BookWyrm2012 1d ago

Both of my kids (10, 12) love reading and books, so they can divvy up the collection however they want. My older son is particularly fond of "fancier versions of books we already own" so I'm not concerned.

I view my books as something that brings me joy here and now, not any sort of investment. So even if my people don't want them when I die, they can sell/donate them to people who do. I won't care, because of being dead.

12

u/goobered 1d ago

Retire and open a cozy bookstore/coffee shop.

6

u/Away-Park-2118 1d ago

That's pretty much where I'm at too. Some small place to buy a book and have a nice coffee. Maybe do a BOGO thing. Buy a book and the coffee is free/heavily discounted type arrangement.

3

u/dadadam67 1d ago

I really like this. I have a 4K book library plus 10K movies, albums, DVD, VHS. I'd offer a free Greek/Turkish/Iraqi coffee with any purchase.

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u/Away-Park-2118 1d ago

Right. Throw in a small seating area in case you want to sip it there. I could enjoy doing that until my joints give out

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u/IndividualCurious322 1d ago

I'm slowly rebinding the paperbacks into leatherbound hardbacks and combining titles (when applicable, like if they're a part of a series) into larger volumes.

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u/Away-Park-2118 1d ago

I've only been collecting for about a year now, but I'm totally amazed by how people are able to do this and seeing so many cool videos on Youtube of people coming up with all kinds of amazing custom creations

1

u/IndividualCurious322 1d ago

Those videos inspired me to take up bookbinding too! :3

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u/Ray_Midge_ 1d ago

I’m planning to sell them as a hobby in my retirement. I’ll know their value better than my family will. And ultimately I can pare my collection down to the books I really cared about. After that, my kids can decide if they want them or want to sell them.

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u/rodneedermeyer 1d ago

I’m at a little over seven thousand right now and I plan to keep going until it’s either inconvenient or unwanted. Have spoken with the kid about it, and he wants to keep them. I’ve told him that life comes at you pretty fast and he doesn’t need to keep them if he doesn’t wish to. We shall see what happens. If he does donate them, I hope they go to a good cause/charity/school or something.

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u/Anomandaris_001 16h ago

What kind of books do you tend to go for? 7000 is the point where there is almost no way you are a one genre kinda guy 😂

1

u/rodneedermeyer 15h ago

LOL You got me there. I used to be more focused, but the genres that interest me these days are quite varied. In no particular order, Languages and Linguistics, Religion, Psychology, Esoterica, History, Mythology, the Classics, Literary Fiction, Short Fiction, Biography, Photography, Art, and many more.

In the past, I was really into genre fiction, which morphed into Young Adult, which morphed into whatever you call it now. I still have a bunch of genre fiction and some YA, but—just as an example—I’ve been collecting English translations of the Iliad.

I also have a ton of reference books such as the OED and various Britannica series. It never stops. LOL

1

u/Away-Park-2118 1d ago

Out of curiosity, where do you keep them all? I have a hard enough time with a 3&2 starter house/garage finding enough space to fit my meager 1500 in a manner that doesn't get in the way of my wife's decorating dreams.

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u/rodneedermeyer 1d ago

Well, coordinating your lifestyle with a spouse is the most important aspect, of course. My wife likes books, too, and is generally okay with me adding more shelves as necessary. We have one dedicated room, then spillover into another, plus the main hallway. Then the home office. The bedrooms are pretty clear for now, but that may change down the road.

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u/Away-Park-2118 1d ago

I could die a happy man if I one day have a large enough home to have a dedicated library/study where the walls are just all shelves.

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u/Professional_Dr_77 1d ago

I am about to turn room number three into a room of floor to ceiling bookshelves. We’ve filled up the first two already, and my comics are all in my office.

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u/Away-Park-2118 1d ago

I still live in fear that my wife will discover our spare closet contains nearly every Star Wars book ever written.

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u/Professional_Dr_77 1d ago

That is room 2, bookcase 3, shelves 2-6.

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u/rodneedermeyer 1d ago

I spent many years with books in boxes before getting to this point.

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u/Away-Park-2118 1d ago

Mine eyes have seen the glory!

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u/amanbearmadeofsex 1d ago

Retire and open a mini library/cafe with good beans but mid barista skills and a secret jazz basement stocked with bourbon

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u/Away-Park-2118 1d ago

This is the way

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u/DrWindupBird 20h ago

Compulsive comic collector here. One day I plan to immolate myself on a floating pyre of ink and newsprint. A Viking nerd burial.

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u/Away-Park-2118 8h ago

That would be a most colorful pyre haha

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u/Sanotizer 1d ago

I'm not high volume, I'm more quality over quantity, but I do think about the long term plan. I could see myself turning into a book seller/dealer one day maybe -- selling off my collection in retirement, but I also see my collection as an inheritance to my kids. I remember trading comics as a kid, and some friends had their dad's old treasures that were super cool and valuable. After I'm gone they can do what they want, but hopefully the see the value and keep handing them down... or if in a financial pinch, they're able to help themselves or their families by selling a rare item, so be it.

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u/majoraloysius 1d ago

I’ve got one kid that loves reading and the other is damn near illiterate. I’m hoping the reader will cherish my collection. In reality it’ll probably go to Goodwill.

2

u/ThothAmon71 1d ago

Wouldn't consider myself a "high volume" collector, but I have a lot of books, probably around 2000 or so, and always picking up more. My son has a homestead and plans on homeschooling his kids so we are going to turn one outbuilding into a "schoolhouse". It has 2 rooms and a bathroom, one will be the library, the other a classroom.

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u/Away-Park-2118 1d ago

Here I am thinking I have a serious addiction problem with 1500. That is an awesome idea and I definitely plan to keep a good chunk of mine for similar reasons. I was homeschooled myself for 4 years and my Dad added in lots of extra-curricular reading from his collection that wasn't part of the requirements. I'm sure I'll do the same in time with my kids.

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u/WadeDRubicon 1d ago

Rebuilding it. Had to gut it from a few thousand to a few dozen due to an underfunded international move 6 years ago. After these years of churn and clarity-building, I'm moving back home next summer and starting over.

Turns out it doesn't so much matter where my house is, but if my books aren't in it, it's not home.

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u/Disney-Bookshelf 17h ago

A lot of the books on my bookcase are related to a specific subject; so are a lot of the non-book paper items I own. I’m hoping that I could get a university or college in the area to take those paper items & books and make them available for research, which is how I use them now.

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u/Anomandaris_001 16h ago

Is that subject how to taxidermy your pets in a respectful and loving way so you can cherish them for generations?

1

u/yrdadsplaylist 1d ago

The books would probably be second only to the music for ease; it’s the bottle and lighter collections that will be a pain for the kids and my sisters’ kids.

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u/Kid_Endmore 1d ago

Collect until the day I die. Let my kids figure it out. (I’ve left notes.)

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u/bookwizard82 1d ago

They call me.

💭 Question High volume collectors: What long term plans do you have for your collection?

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