(Please tell me someone else has heard of that song. I remember seeing it in a video in our weekly library class in middle school. There were other songs in this series, many of which were raps. This one was passing along the merits of the reference section. This post isn’t about the reference section, but whenever I think of the library – which is often – I sing this song in my head. I know. Moving on.)

I love books. Love them! The more the merrier is my motto. But I’m also “thrifty” (read: cheap), so of course I’m a HUGE fan of the library. I cannot leave the library without a stack for me in addition to a stack for the kids.

Unfortunately, most of the time, that stack remains just that, a messy stack – on my bedside table, on the table by the couch, on the shelf in the hall – you get the idea. See, I’m a visual person. And if I can’t see the book, I will forget about having it. I need it right there, out in front of me, so I can think, Oh yeah, I have a great book (or seven) from the library that I want to read! For a while, I was keeping them in a library tote bag on our coat rack (more on that later this week), but then the bag would get lost under all the coats, and I would forget about them until I got the reminder email from the library that they were due, so I resigned myself to leaving a big ol’ stack of books out for me to see and remember.

I might add 2 or 3 of my own books to the stack that I’m reading as well (yes, I love books), and as you can see, it gets a little out of control. (Note: this is why this little “tweak” came in to being – it was mostly Husband’s idea, because my teetering stack of books were added to a few of his books – you didn’t think I was reading Dynamics of Structures did you? – and it was just too much.)

Thus, the library shelf was born. (This may not be anything new for you, but it’s been revolutionary for me!) The top of this shelf had a mix of books, mostly ones we’ve read and that we were just storing there.

We cleared that off and designated that top shelf as prime real estate for library books and books were are currently reading. (There are also 2 library DVDs there right now – a perfect place to keep them in sight and remember their location when it’s time to make our next library run.)

Really, it’s so simple, but it’s great. I even neatened up the magazine stack up on top of the bookshelf, too. And it’s PURPOSEFUL because being able to see the books I want to read helps me to use the extra minutes I have here or there to work toward something I want to do – READ!

Here’s the rest of the bookshelf – I know, not as lovely. But just you wait – I’ve got a project coming soon to help out that jumble of toys on the bottom shelves. I’m super excited about this one.

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This post is part of a 31 Day series about improving my days by being more PURPOSEFUL. You can read more about it here.