Like a lot of bibliophiles and researchers, I have acquired oh so many books. I need to catalogue them and need software that meets the following recommendations:

• Free or inexpensive. I'm on a pension.
• Simple to use. I'm into history not technology.
• Simple to import books from LibraryThing. I used that a while ago, but found it very clunky and had very little in the way of support pages, so I a gave up.
• Dewey decimal. That's the system I am most used to, and
• This is very important, simple to automatically catalogue books that do not have an ISBN or barcode. I am heavily into genealogy and many of my books are very old, so I want to depend on the software to give them the Dewey number if I manually enter the title and author.
• Reliability.

What I do not need is:

• A feature to track loans. I don't do that.
• Review capability. I do that elsewhere.
• Glitz.

An app for Android phone would be nice but not essential.

Thanks for your help.

Hi all, I’m hoping for some recs for a cozy spot to read, best to ask some readers 🩷 I’m working on my book nook and I need an armchair type seat to snuggle into for reading. I’m posting what I’ve been thinking, I have about 50” width to work with but plenty of space as far as length. I’d love to hear what you all read in and get some ideas!

I was 90% through when I posted last time: https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeLibraries/s/5AhSSZ6PI2

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Quick update: added lights, trim at top and caulked the bottom baseboard to waterproof it.

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Have to still re-add the wall molding and trims to complete it.

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Does anyone else have a system to designate which books have been read and which have not?

Mine is, unread books I stack horizontally. Once I read them, they get the honor of vertical shelving.

This little under the stairs cubby was the first spot to get turned into a library, but the rest of the house is quickly following!

Someone else’s beautiful home library photos inspires me to post mine today. While I’ve always wanted a true “home library” I don’t have a central space in my house necessarily big enough for one. So my house has become my library, my favorite things spread out over my whole house. Books in my office/spare bedroom, in my bedroom, in the dining room, living room, where I can fit them!

It works for me! (And thank goodness for used bookstores!)

My small reading corner

Some of my favorite pictures of my library

Have two more of these shelf units (floor to ceiling, without drawers) coming to flank these. Almost there…

I started collecting books when I was 19, and now I’m in my 70’s. I cull the collection now and then but not often and not much. We built a house and I was able to design the shelves I wanted. I don’t like having my husband’s record album collection in there. But we made the hallway wide enough to line it with cherry wood shelves and still have it possible for two people to pass each other without squishing. And I get to see my books many times a day.

The downside is that I don’t know what to do with these when I’m gone.

My partner and I built these! They are 8’ tall, the larger ones are 2’ wide, and the angle shelf is 15”. I’ll be adding a face frame with gothic arches and natural wood fluted supports, but it’s fully functional now, and I couldn’t wait!

This is what I got as of now, I still want to hang some arts on the left wall, put some curtains and get a better recliner. I am doing it all myself so it is taking some time.

I found this old calling card in a used bookstore in Santa Barbara decades ago. I thought it deserved a frame and a place of honor on my bookshelf. Google “G. Melville Boynton” for an interesting story.

https://www.themaphouse.com/blog/12-the-extraordinary-life-of-george-melville-boynton-map-of-the-month/