Have you ever loaned a book to someone, never got it back, and couldn’t remember who last borrowed it? Well, if this is you, I have a simple solution for keeping track of all those favorite books.

I love reading to relax and therefore, I buy a lot of books. Believe me, I have quite a collection.

Not only do I love to read, but I also enjoy allowing my friends and family to borrow books from me. However, I do want them back once they’re finished reading them.

My simple solution was to create a spreadsheet listing all the books in my home library. The listing includes a column for recording who borrowed a particular book and when the book was borrowed. This way, if the book is not returned within a reasonable amount of time, I know who to ask about it.

My Columns

• Title
• Author
• Series
  
• Series Book Number
  
• Borrower
• Date Borrowed

I keep this listing in alphabetical order by author’s last name so it’s easier to locate the books and also helps keep each individual series together.

Most of the books I own are fiction novels, but this organizational method could easily be done with any books you own.

If by chance you don’t have a spreadsheet on your computer, you can download a free one at OpenOffice.org. It is very similar to Excel, so if you’re at all familiar with Excel, you should have no problem using Open Office.

What is the best way you’ve found to organize and keep up with your books?

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.

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4 Comments

• Lisa says:

  July 22, 2009 at 12:29 am

  PERFECT idea!

  Lisa’s last blog post..I DON’T KNOW what Works For Me Wednesday

  Reply
• Amanda says:

  July 22, 2009 at 1:24 am

  Good idea! I need to do this, because I always want my books back!

  Come stop by my blog ~ I’m sharing a tasty thing I found that works for me and my daughter, which you’ll see LOL. Plus I have a little info on a Non-BlogHer party going on with GIVEAWAYS and fun!! http://www.garibaysoup.com

  Amanda’s last blog post..This is how we eat our ice cream cupcakes!

  Reply
• Theo-Ann says:

  July 22, 2009 at 4:43 pm

  Thanks so much for this. I’ve been thinking about doing this for while, mostly to keep track of what books we have. With packing right now, I’ve realized that we have so many books and it would be great if we had a spreadsheet so that we don’t ever buy duplicates.

  Reply
  • Amanda says:

    July 22, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    That is another reason I keep track of my books too - so I don’t buy duplicates. It can get tricky especially when books entirely change the look of the front cover. I also have a separate spreadsheet where I list out all the books I’ve borrowed, so I don’t forget and buy something I’ve already read.

    Reply

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