Weeding Your Collection: Board Books

Since it's a holiday and all, I'm letting you off easy this time!
Let's talk about weeding those board books. 

This is another category that is pretty straight forward, so it could be another good starting point.

Once again, I find it helpful to take all the books off the shelf you're working on and stack them on the floor, or a table.

1.     Throw away the trash. This includes any book that is ripped, stained, or chewed on beyond repair. If it has been loved into that state, do yourself a favor and get a new copy. Most board books are very reasonably priced—usually around $5 or $6. Otherwise, gone!

2.     Look for board books that were never meant to be board books in the first place. These are the ones that have enough text for a picture book, crammed into a board book format. My toddler will not sit still long enough for those, and my older kids don’t want to be seen reading a “baby book.” This format is meant for 1-3 year-olds (with some wiggle room at each end.) Make sure the text matches that attention span.

3.     Lastly, look for books that either you or your kids never really liked or read all that much. Some just don’t appeal as much, and that’s okay. Pass them on to someone else. (Chances are, these will be in the best shape anyway!)

Clean up and repair the keepers. Baby wipes will take most things off the shiny board book pages. (At the library we used the disinfecting wipes). Clear packing tape works well to put flaps back on or pages back in long enough for a few more rounds.

 

Group similar books together—going by height or size works well with these—and put them back on the shelf or back in the basket.

You're done!  Good work!

 

Is organizing your book shelf your idea of a good time on a holiday weekend? That's okay, you can admit it!  I have been known to tackle a few such projects myself.