What you need to know about creating a home library. Interiors of libraries in a country house

First, a little background, and then I will move on to an overview of applications. If you want to skip the lyrical introduction, then scroll down to the “And now mobile” section. Spoiler: I did not find complete happiness, but there are options.

We had such a family tradition: once a year we removed all the books from the shelves, wiped the shelves, and the books themselves were brought into a red notebook with a thick cover. The notebook was alphabetically categorized and labeled work/author/year. We also added the storage code (for example, G-9-2 - living room, ninth shelf, second row). I don’t remember whether such a notebook was a special notebook for home libraries or we drew it ourselves. At first I wiped the shelves, then I was entrusted to bring books into a notebook.

I think this is a useful tradition, especially when all family members tend to spontaneous book purchases and to borrow other people's libraries while their owners move. You always find something unexpected and put off reading for yourself.

A photograph of a bookshelf to draw attention. About the leftmost book, I have .

Then my sister and I mastered MS Access and tried to transfer the library there. At first it was fun to create directories of authors, publishers, but we soon got tired.

Later, several times I tried to take up the library again and created Excel spreadsheets, Google tables, but somehow dry tabular data did not inspire me. And the cipher of the location lost its relevance: the furniture was rearranged, books were given to read.

For a while, cataloging books lost its relevance because I became a fan of cataloging music. Programs for track recognition, tagging, Spotify and others whose names I can’t remember. This was in the pre-mobile era, many of these programs no longer exist. How many hours have been spent on what was so quickly supplanted by Shazam and Yandex music! But, I must admit, I liked this occupation.

The next step is to discover the livelib portal. I created a "home library" list and started adding books. I was pleased with the large database and quick export from the ozone / labyrinth for books that were not in it. At first, it took me a long time to choose which edition I had, but after a few hours my excitement faded - only 100 books were submitted, there are many more to come. In addition, the service is still visually not very convenient, there is some kind of clutter.

The All my books program passed me by at one time, but even now I am unlikely to install it: only Windows, manual ISBN input, bugs, design.

If you scrolled to the applications section, then here it is

And now mobile

I don't remember when I got the idea to google it, maybe after going to IKEA. After all, there must be a mobile application that scans a barcode, uploads metadata, sorts it all out, and then exports it? Of course it should! It remains only to test all the options.

Disclaimer: I tested apps from the AppStore, I think that for most of them there are relatives in Google Play.

So, we take a random stack of books from the shelf. And immediately we are faced with a problem that concerns all applications: Soviet publications do not have ISBNs, but have a different identification number. In principle, this problem could be ended and dispersed. But 1) I hope to find an app that recognizes by the cover or with a good search, 2) the library I'm going to scan is quite new (except for the books I buy from second-hand booksellers), Soviet books are left in my hometown.

1. ISBN Scan

Problem: there are no Russian books in their database. I tried the English books that are at home - it works. I wrote a review to the developers with a request to expand the databases.

ISBN Scan in action

No pluses will cover this minus, but I’ll still say about them: continuous scanning of the entire stack of books, beautiful shelves and book cards with space for notes, there is an export of shelves to csv.

Shelves, inside shelves and book card in ISBN Scan

2. Libib

There are Russian books (though with transliterated titles), but not all of them. Apparently, he only searches on Google Books, and there are no new items that are not sold electronically. What is not found can be entered manually. I did not find a quick list export. There are many features in the application, but if there is no good ISBN base, then they are not needed.

What was scanned in Libib. As shown by further testing, one of the best results

3. BookBuddy

Russian-language application, but searched only on Google Books, 4 out of 7 were found, one of them was displayed correctly (with a cover and neat metadata). A couple of Soviet books were added not manually, but through a web search.

Alas, not all books were found through a web search, although this application has one of the best compared to others

4. Books (Sort-it Apps)

5. Book Scanner

I did not find all the books, some of them I found on Amazon and require a premium account. The design is bad.

6. Book crawler

I can copy-paste this comment: not all books, the search is crooked, the application itself is crooked.

7 Bookcase

Weak database.

At this point, I thought that LiveLib should have its own application.

And it really is

8 LiveLibs

There is simply no comparable database in terms of the number of publications, especially Russian-language ones. But: like the LiveLib site, this service is designed to record what is being read and what has been read, not to keep track of books stored. That is, he wonderfully searches by the barcode, but then the book can only be added to I want to read / read / read (+ note in which format I read it). To add a book to your collection (I created "my home library"), you need to go to the site. If the book is not located either by ISBN or by title, it will not be possible to add it through the application either.

A nuance that applies to all applications: you will not find new items, especially not hits, in these databases. So not all book purchases can be registered immediately.

9. Goodreads

After LiveLib, it is logical to download the Goodreads application. You can create a shelf and add scanned books to it, but not everything is in the database. The book can only be stored on one shelf (that is, either “read” or “in the living room”), you cannot add your own cards.

Only 3 books found on Goodreads

10.HomeLibrary

Incomplete catalog, errors in the database.

11. Bookshelf

I found covers for all books with a barcode, except for the novelty (it searches for 15 databases each), but pulled up crooked metadata. Soviet books can only be added manually.

12. Book Organizer

5 books were found, 2 were not found (with ISBN), but everything is correct with title covers. Compared to other applications, it looks promising. True, from the metadata it pulls up only the cover-title-author, without the publisher and year. There is a manual entry of the web search, but only the names are found (with the scarcity of metadata, I can manually drive them in).

Minimalist Book Organizer

I'll stop there for now. There is no miracle application in which I would now create my library. So I'll wait, otherwise it will turn out like then with tags and music.

“If Nikanor Ivanovich’s lips were to be put to Ivan Kuzmich’s nose, and if I could take some of the swagger that Baltazar Baltazarych has, and, perhaps, add Ivan Pavlovich’s corpulence to this, then I would immediately decide.”

If you take the livelib database, add the goodreads database there and take a simple addition to the shelves and export like ISBN Scan, and even add a photo search. And add social features (but don't overload), a recommender system and e-books, that's when ...

In general, if the article is read by application developers or friends of developers, then;). As an experienced bibliomaniac, I can tell you a lot of interesting things about home libraries, book databases and book publishing.

If I missed some important application or made an inaccuracy, write [email protected].

What to do with e-books and audiobooks?

This is also a big topic, it did not fit in this article. Some of the apps listed above can tag the e-book version (Goodreads), and some can scan your dropbox or iCloud. For example, I have about 500 books in the Litres cloud, and what should I do with them?

Starring

We are still talking about books here, so a few words about those books on which I tested the application and which are not on the cover of this article:

• "The Adventures of Famous Books" by John Winternich and "Studies in Old Russian Literature" by D.S. Likhachev - fresh additions from the bookstore on the Moika (although I prefer the bookstore at the Ladoga railway station, but I rarely go there). By virtue of the field of activity, I love “books about books”, and “Adventures ...” are all the more published in the legendary “Book”.
• Time Travel by Jace Glick is a rich collection of facts around the phenomenon of time travel, more in a cultural context. It is interesting that the very concept of "time travel" appeared relatively recently, at the turn of the centuries (XIX and XX). Actually, like the concept of "turn of the century." If you like science pop, then MIF publishes it too.
• "Electronic book publishing in Russia" by Vladimir Kharitonov - Vladimir is the main expert on electronic books in Russia, this is my professional literature. I also write to the MYTH blog about e-books,.
• "The Word Living and Dead" by Nora Gal is a balm for the soul for those who make books, and a textbook for those who write and translate. I happen to have two editions of this book at home, so I'm interested in having a metadata wonder app with edition and binding.
• Essential Art History by Susie Hodge is an illustrated guide to major works by era, movement and technique. I love it when you can pick up a book and flip through it from any page.
• “The Technique of Fiction Prose” by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a small collection of lectures, it was recommended to us at literary courses, this year a paper was published. Interestingly, before each lecture there is a short summary.
• "Diary 29" by Dimitris Chassapakis - not found in any database, apparently because it's new. A book-quest in which a lot of editorial effort has been invested :).
• “I feel deeply depressed and unhappy” by Evelyn Waugh is a fresh addition, I have not read it yet. But reflects my state, after installing, registering and testing 12 applications.

A home library is a storehouse of knowledge, something that it is difficult for a person striving for success and self-development to do without. A home library is a personal guide to the world of incredible discoveries and unforgettable impressions, a faithful and kind friend during leisure hours.

Let them say that the age of the book is nearing its end and that, as a way of conveying thought, it is completely outdated and should soon disappear altogether, just as such forms of information transmission as cuneiform or knot writing disappeared in their time. This article is for those who believe that e-books, radio, television and the Internet will never completely replace paper books, and for those who want to create and organize their own home library, but do not know where to start.

Today, the understanding of the home library is somewhat different than it was 20-30 years ago. For some, these words mean an element of the interior decorating our homes. And if you drive this phrase into the search engine, then the answer to the query will be: “bookcases for the home library”, “furniture for the home library”, etc. That is, we are talking about the manufacture and installation of furniture for your book collection. Apparently, books are a secondary issue.

Personally, I have nothing against decorating the home with the works of great authors in beautiful “clothes”. Without books, shelves and cabinets look empty and worthless, even if they are completely lined with all sorts of trinkets and souvenirs. But do not forget that the main purpose of the book is education, enlightenment (we already wrote about the benefits of reading and how to read books correctly on the pages of our blog) and salvation from idleness. No, we will definitely tell in this article about where and how best to place a home library, but first let's talk about how to form it and what books to equip it with.

Each of us has our own preferences, so when choosing books and building your home library, you should be guided solely by your needs and interests. Some are fond of history, others are technology, some like to read books on philosophy, and some like esoteric literature or self-development materials. It is more likely that a book related specifically to the topic of your hobbies and hobbies will bring pleasure when reading.

Collect books you need for study and duty. If you are an engineering major, collect books on the history of electronics, mechanics, and so on. Use the same principle when choosing reference literature. The direction of your activity should dictate what kind of books you need to look for.

Don't forget classic fiction! No matter how trite it may sound, every home should have at least a few masterpieces by great Russian and foreign writers. First of all, pay attention to the genres that appeal to you.

When choosing your next book, give preference to authors whose works have already interested you in some way. But keep in mind that every person is subject to a creative crisis, and the next work of the author you love may not find the same response in your heart.

Look for reviews of books that interest you and are considering purchasing. Buy a book or not, you will be prompted by the opinions of professional critics and ordinary readers like you. There are many sites on the web, and you can easily find one that you can trust.

When buying a book in a store, leaf through it, and if possible, read a little (some bookstore chains specially place comfortable chair sofas along the shelves, thereby encouraging buyers to get acquainted with the book). Having briefly reviewed the work and briefly reviewed its contents, you will know for sure whether or not it is worth buying, reading and including this book in your home library.

Filling the home library, do not forget about your children. As you know, interest in reading is formed in childhood, and the most engaging books in this activity are adventure novels, for example, such great authors as: Edgar Burroughs, Jules Verne, Veniamin Kaverin, Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain, Daniel Defoe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mine Reid, etc.

Practical advice on the selection of books, the formation and use of a home library

Disposable tabloids (one-day detectives, women's novels and other non-fiction reading) should not be brought into the home library. They do not carry any small value and are intended only to relax and pass the time.

Don't let your home library become a decoration - be sure to read everything you add to it.

Your goal of building a quality home library should not become a goal to make it bigger than Harvard's library. Collect only those books that are of value to you. For any person and any family, the collected books should become necessary assistants in study, work and self-development, and not a collection collected for prestige.

remember, that building a home library- this is an expensive activity that can affect the budget and take a lot of time. Buying books and planning their placement, acquiring furniture, storing and caring for literature, transporting in the event of a move - all this requires finance, time and effort.

The process of finding the right book will speed up the classification and systematization. For convenient searching and saving time (naturally, this applies to home libraries that consist of more than a few shelves), you can use electronic catalogs and special computer programs that help you correctly arrange all the books into sections. They are not difficult to navigate. For example, if when buying a book you are in doubt whether you have it or not, enter the name in the search bar (as a rule, these online services are synchronized with mobile phones) and voila, your electronic filing cabinet gives you all the information you need. Similarly, during the usual search for the book you need, the program will tell you where the book you need is lost in your rich home library. Of course, book sorting can be approached using traditional methods. Just keep a record and enter in a special notebook all your books with the author, title and year of publication. For convenience, a number of pages should be allocated for each letter of the alphabet.

In the same notebook, mark those books that you give to read on the condition that they return to you.

You can equip your home book depository not only with books, but also with magazines. Collections of such periodicals as "Science and Technology", "Around the World", "Behind the Wheel", "Burda", etc. will take a worthy place in the general education department.

It would seem that finding any book today is not a problem. However, this is not always the case. Old magazines and rare books can be bought from collectors. Therefore, it makes sense to look for like-minded book lovers and chat on forums of interest. In addition, it will give you a new interesting social circle.

How to sell your home library and get rid of unwanted books

To free up free space on generously filled shelves and in cabinets from books that you inherited and that you are unlikely to ever read, you should not throw them away. The Internet is full of advertisements for the purchase of home libraries, and you can always help out some amount of money. And if the amount that you can get from selling your home library seems negligible to you, donate books to the library, friends, colleagues or neighbors. The same can be said about books that you have read to the holes and memorized - do not throw them away. The book not only gives knowledge, but also preserves it for centuries. If she helped you, she will definitely help others.

, however, like buy a home library, you can on specialized sites, forums and groups of social networks. Almost all more or less large advertising portals have a section "Books and magazines". It is better to submit an advertisement for the sale at once in all, well, or at least in several of them. Be sure to describe the book or series being offered for sale. Indicate the number of books, genres, authors, if there are not so many, then the name and year of release of each copy, publisher, state. You can add a high-quality image of the book(s) to the description. So interested in buying your home library, will have a complete picture of it.

A good way for residents of big cities to sell rare and old editions is to give them for sale to an antique and second-hand bookshop. However, don't expect quick sales here. It happens that after evaluating and putting a book on display, more than one month or even a year passes before the moment of sale. It's also important not to go cheap. Experts advise, in search of a fair price, to go through several second-hand bookshops, and then draw conclusions.

There are various communities like the International League of Antique Booksellers and fairs, where a valuable and rare copy is sure to find its buyer.

Where to put your home library

Even if you are not a complete bibliophile, but simply love to read, you probably have collected a significant collection of works of various genres at home. And you, like no one, should understand that books need space - a home library. If book bedlam reigns in your home, and you have been thinking about how to organize a home library for a long time, then we will help you with this.

The arrangement of the home library is best organized in a separate office. It is here that there is an opportunity to devote several hours to self-development or important matters with the confidence that no one will interfere with you. A home library in an office is often not one, but several walls. If you install special built-in bookshelves in the room, the height of which will reach the ceiling, then you can always put the right amount of books in your home.

If you have a workplace with a rich library at home, this indicates that you have excellent taste and are broad-minded.

may vary based on your preferences. It can be an ultra-modern room or an office furnished in a colonial style. Libraries with antique furniture look very elegant. Leather armchairs and an oak table never go out of style.

Furniture for a home library is a very important aspect in the design of an intellectual rest room. Here it will not be superfluous to place a coffee table and a sophisticated seating area for a relaxed pastime. As already mentioned, it is better to choose large and massive cabinets for a home library. Such furniture will create a feeling of nobility of the interior.

For those who are fans of the High-Tech direction, a minimalistic home library interior with comfortable furniture of an unusual shape and non-standard shelves. Entertaining accessories can complement the interior decoration of the room.

However, not only in the office you can enjoy intellectual food. A home library in the living room is quite common. For many, especially for those whose house does not have a large area, this option can be a great solution.

The living room is a very comfortable place to create a library. First of all, you need to highlight the corner where the bookshelves will be located, and also think about where you will have the opportunity to sit down and enjoy reading. The project "home library in the living room" can turn into a very exciting activity, because in this room you have the opportunity to realize your imagination one hundred percent.

You can use hinged, built-in or any other design, based on the dimensions of the room, personal preferences and interior design. If your book collection includes some valuable items, install glazed shelves to keep valuable literature.

In the event that you decide to install shelves to the ceiling, then keep in mind that you will no doubt need a ladder. It should be selected, focusing on the overall style of the living room.

Building a home library requires a lot of time to devote to the issue of lighting. Choose lamps that will enable you to read books printed in very small print. In this case, the lighting should be located behind the shoulder, so that the light does not blind you. Keep in mind that dim lighting is ideal for a library, as bright light will adversely affect the preservation of your books. An ideal option would be floor lamps mounted on an ergonomic and comfortable pantograph.

Since not everyone can boast of the spaciousness of their apartment, it is quite reasonable to create a compact library in almost any room. If you have an unused corner or an extra niche in the room, you can use them to install bookshelves. This solution is more than rational for small apartments.

If your house has a staircase, then you can arrange a good place to store books right under it. To do this, you just need to purchase the necessary furniture.

Rules for storing books and caring for them

If you want your home library to serve you as long as possible, and the books to remain in perfect condition, it is very important to adhere to certain rules for storing books and ensuring that they are properly cared for. And competent home library storage- this is not only a guarantee of its safety, but also a guarantee of our health, since books are a real dust collector.

Shelves with doors will protect books from dust and dampness. If you have them on open shelves, wipe them more often with a damp, but well-wrung out cloth (you can moisten it with a 2-3% formalin solution). Before that, it makes sense to walk with a vacuum cleaner or a broom made of feathers to collect dust. If the books are very dusty, the dust must be removed very carefully.

Ventilate the room in which your home library is located more often, and if books are stored in closed cabinets, then so are they. The ideal temperature for storing your book collection is 18-20°C at 50-60% humidity.

Be aware that books absorb tobacco smoke well, which is almost impossible to get rid of. So if you value your home library, stop smoking in the room where it is located or equip the room with an extractor fan and an ionizer.

Also, books are detrimental to bright electric lighting and direct sunlight - the binding fades and loses elasticity, and the pages dry out and turn yellow. Therefore, they should be kept away from light. When setting up a home library, take care of special light sources: floor lamps, table lamps, sconces, etc. Do not let the sun's rays "roam" through your book depository. Tulle, curtains, and even better blinds - all this window “clothes” will protect books from tarnishing and drying out.

Book restoration

Book restoration is not a cheap service. It is worth paying for it if the book is old and expensive, but the rest of the damaged part of the home library can be put in order with your own hands.

If a book page is wrinkled, place it between sheets of white paper and iron it with a warm iron. The torn page can be lightly glued with thin tissue paper.

Surely, after reading this article, many people thought that today most people prefer digital libraries. Yes, it is, but personally I find it more pleasant to flip through snow-white pages than to click every ten seconds on the buttons or the monitor screen, turning them over, it is more pleasant to hold a real book than an electronic one (smartphone or cell phone). And I think I'm not the only one ... However, "Paper book & E-book" is a very interesting topic that deserves a separate article.

A friend of our family once asked us:

Why do you need such a big library? Need a book - download it on the Internet, it's much more convenient! Books will soon become extinct as a species.

A home library is a space of culture, a way of life, a way of thinking

Indeed, many texts can be found online in just a few minutes. Sometimes on the Internet you can find such texts that you can’t get “live” in any way. But the home library is not a set of texts. The home library is an idea. Space of culture, way of life, way of thinking.

The home library seems to turn the family towards education and self-education. The library can be a method of teaching and educating our children, and not only in the field of literature.

Library: accent in the interior of the house

In the house the child lives, is brought up, studies. When we equip our home, we equip the environment for the formation of the personality of each of our children.

The house is like a temple. The decoration of the temple, its device calls, teaches, educates, directs, adjusts a person.

The house is like a school, a school. A well-designed interior of a school classroom sets you up for classes, makes students interested in the subject and helps to master the educational material.

What we will teach our children with the help of home decoration is for us, parents, the main educators and teachers of our children, the owners of the house to choose.

And if we arrange a home library, we already create it in our apartment, in our house educational space. We create an environment that in one way or another will affect the upbringing of our children. If in a house, in an apartment, in a room we found a place for books, allocated, arranged this place, it means that we have already introduced reading, literature and previous centuries of human culture into the world of our house. That's it, easily. Children live here and see these books, pass by them every day, touch the spines with their fingers... Thousands of books stored in the memory of our home computer cannot play such a role by definition. E-books are part of personal work. The home library is part of the life of our home.

At the same time, the library is not at all the property of rich interiors or large mansions. I myself grew up in a three-room apartment, where, in addition to my parents and my six brothers and sisters, there lived a home library. At first, these were somehow knocked together shelves, from floor to ceiling, in the entire corridor. And there were books in the bookcases in every room… Some people do renovations in a large apartment and throw all the books away like dustbins. Others in wrecked five-walls manage to work with thousands of books. The question is not in square meters and not in the amount of money, but in the way of life.

Library: a form of leisure

What to do in your free time? Often - what catches the eye. Turned on, chess on the table, an opened box with plasticine ... Children "have nothing to do" open books if they are surrounded by books. Because the title intrigued me, because the cover is beautiful (or because it doesn’t exist at all, alas, we have enough books with torn covers…) One child will take an album with views of old Moscow from the shelf - and this way he will get acquainted with history, culture, architecture. Another will open a book about insects, a third will look through the stories of O. Henry, a fourth will be read by Gogol, a fifth will discover how interesting Nechvolodov writes about the history of Russia.

However, if there is a library in the house, it is not at all necessary for children to sit at books from morning to evening. And it’s good: when they have free time, when they have “nothing to do”, let them run, play, make crafts or draw, but the home library will help our children sometimes choose reading in such cases.

Library: Shaping a Worldview

A book is an educator who can educate a person no worse than a “living” teacher

The book is an educator who can educate a person no worse than a "living" teacher. And what kind of educator will we entrust our children to? Anyone, if only he could write interestingly? If only he was once declared a "classic"?

If we managed to instill in our children a love of reading, then after reading one book, they are looking for something else to read to them. At first, they ask for help from their parents. But the older they get, the more often they choose books on their own. They choose books on their own in the place where books are easiest to find, namely, in the home library. They choose books on their own ... from those chosen by us.

With the help of the home library, we form the reading circle of our children. We can collect books that will support our parenting strategy. Reading circle - a certain worldview. And this is especially important if the value system of the family differs from the value system of the environment. And the Christian family will inevitably in some way, and sometimes in many ways, be opposed to the world.

The circle of reading, first of all, includes fiction. Strive for self-improvement, overcome difficulties, listen to your inner world, think and reflect, compare and draw conclusions, learn from the mistakes of others, see yourself from the outside ... All this is fiction. Genius wakes the reader from the sleep of petty everyday life - and at each age this awakening is different ...

Fiction helps to grow creative people in any field. We open the biographies of scientists - and we see that in childhood, great mathematicians, physicists, engineers read adventures and novels. It is also interesting that the holy royal martyrs - both parents and children - read a lot of fiction. At everyone of the children of the last Russian emperor had their own library, in total about 3500-4000 thousand books. And this is in addition to large shared libraries. Fiction in the royal family was often read aloud together - and continued such reading even during imprisonment ...

What are we going to include in the circle of "family reading"? Of course, it must be high-quality literature. But if we are trying to raise children as Christians, we will not keep the great classics like Guy de Maupassant within easy reach and, with all our love for the great Leo Tolstoy, we will put Anna Karenina on the shelf, but we will put Resurrection away. We will treat children's literature proper even more strictly: for example, we will remove the stories and novels of writers in which kind and sympathetic revolutionaries and their little associates help to expose Orthodox "miracles" set up by priests and monks to fool the common people, where the heroes dream of killing rich bourgeois and hated king. I am not calling for a ban on such literature, by no means. But if we strive to educate our children in the faith and chastity of a holistic perception of the world and human relations, then we will perceive the great anti-Christian literature, rather, as an interesting work for specialists, a unique monument of the era or a living illustration of life "on the other side." I do not read such books to my children at night, I do not offer them such literature for independent reading. If children read such books, then let it happen as late as possible. Then these books will be perceived as "strangers".

And there is enough foreign literature. Literature, which was created by great, talented and even brilliant authors - and filled with theomachism, fornication, rudeness. Some of these authors deliberately fought against Christian teaching and/or church consciousness, some were simply a product of a non-Christian, anti-Christian culture. But the more talented the writer, the more interesting he writes - the more readers, our children, are immersed in the world created by the author, the more serious and deeper the impact of the author-educator on the soul of the child.

But still, a significant part of the treasures of world literature are works written by Christian authors, and the world created by this literature is based on the values ​​of the Christian life. And by creating a home library, we offer this world to our children.

Each family has its own favorite books and its own circle of reading. In our family, a child is looking for "something to read" - and here are the shelves with children's literature, from Vladimir Dahl and Korney Chukovsky to Seton-Thompson, Kipling, Hector Malo, Sergei Aksakov, Nikolai Leskov, the same Leo Tolstoy, Garin-Mikhailovsky, Ivan Shmelev, Leonid Panteleev ... If they want adventure, they will find Daniel Defoe, Stevenson, Jules Verne, Walter Scott, Mine Reed. Historical literature? Krasnov about Suvorov or the books of Svyatopolk-Mirsky. Detectives? Here is Chesterton, here is Conan Doyle. Girls will find several shelves with books by Lydia Charskaya, Francis Burnett, Louise Alcott, and for the older ones - on the shelves of Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, Pushkin, Turgenev... An old, still great-grandmother's collected works of Dickens...

If there is a large convenient library in the house, the children will not soon get out of its influence. They will start looking for books "on the side" later, when with the help of "our" literature we have already raised children in "our" value system. We will educate our family throughout our life, relationships in it, conversations with children and with children, our family's social circle. If, of course, we succeed in raising our children this way ...

Library as an incentive for self-education

When we put books on the shelves in our house, we create an opportunity for self-education for our children. I have already talked about the Bogolyubov family, where the father-priest brought up three outstanding Soviet scientists. The Bogolyubovs lived in an apartment where a large common room was at the same time a dining room, a place for mother's music lessons and father's study. And the books were kept here. And this scientific literature, with which their father worked, attracted children, and the kids, having barely learned to read, picked up encyclopedias and other "non-children's" books. Such reading greatly broadened the horizons of children and prepared them for their life path.

Yes, in the home library there can be not only fiction, but also books devoted to various branches of science. Physics, mathematics, geography - everything that is interesting and important for parents can be open and accessible to children with the help of the library. A child walks past a cabinet with books on medicine. And one day he will stop and look, just out of curiosity. And maybe open a book and read it. He will begin to read on his own, which means that his attention will be active, and he will assimilate the information as fully as possible. So the child's curiosity, combined with the availability of books, will contribute to the education of our children. Or maybe it will help children understand their interests in life, help them choose, if not a profession, then a hobby.

I'll tell you about another Soviet academician. This is a physicist, the leader of Soviet mechanical engineering, one of the three Russian winners of the James Watt Gold Medal - the most prestigious international award for achievements in engineering - Ivan Ivanovich Artobolevsky. His father, a priest, later a new martyr, was professionally engaged in history. Ivan respected and loved his father. Therefore, the child liked to listen to the conversations of his parents. The boy was interested in learning more about the story that his father loved so much. And the child went to the parent library, where he read the works of V.O. Klyuchevsky, his father's teacher. Read, remember. And I fell in love with national history for the rest of my life. So to parents, overheard parental conversations and the availability of books in the home library did what a whole staff of school history teachers often cannot do - they gave the child nothing less than a basic historical education and, most importantly, love for native history. Such "unorganized" home education, characteristic of many intelligent families, subsequently compensated for the narrowness of special technical education, and "technician" scientists in this case turned out to be, on the whole, people of great culture.

I myself was also touched by a similar effect of the availability of parent books. When I was twelve years old, my mother was expecting another baby, and at the same time, a lot of literature about pregnancy and childbirth appeared in the house. Out of pure curiosity, I started reading these books. After reading everything I could on this topic, I turned to books on child physiology, popular books on pediatrics. In these books, women were charged with starting to prepare for pregnancy and childbirth “as early as possible,” and I decided that it was time for me to start this preparation. So, inadvertently, "from childhood", I began to prepare for motherhood - "eat right" and even do special exercises for stretching and posture. It’s just that the corresponding books, firstly, were generally in our house, and secondly, they were “in the public domain”.

This is how children who grow up among books find something of their own, find their interests, find themselves in such reading. And what is it that will interest our children - we cannot know this. One child will read novels, and the other - detective stories, one child will pay attention to the era of the Napoleonic wars, and the third will solve all the problems of Perelman.

When we collect a home library, when we sort books in it, when we put some literature on the middle shelves (at the level of the children's eyes), we can draw the child's attention to a particular topic. So, in the upbringing of the heir to the Russian throne, Tsarevich Alexei Romanov, the study of native history was one of the most important subjects, and therefore in the boy’s classroom, next to his bedroom, not only maps and teaching aids were placed, but also many books on the history of the Romanov dynasty and history of Russia.

And at the same time, we cannot draw conclusions: here, he is interested in anatomy, he will grow up as a doctor. Maybe a doctor, or maybe an artist (anatomy will come in handy!), Or maybe childhood hobbies will not affect the choice of life path. A boy keen on physics can become a theologian and a priest. Fascinated by history and biology, like the same academician I.I. Artobolevsky, will become a mechanical engineer. But be that as it may, the circle of reading, the cognitive interest of children will certainly play a role. If a child is really carried away by a particular field of knowledge, the inquisitiveness of the child's mind, a keen interest in the subject will allow him to independently receive a real basic education in a particular subject, which means to broaden his horizons, which means in the future to become a more versatile person than is possible with organized school and special education.

And it is not so important what area of ​​knowledge the child will be passionate about. This is already a skill of self-education. Already - the joy of self-education. And in any case, it will be a hobby. So - a distraction from the meaningless fermentation on the network or sitting in front of the monitor. In general, a distraction from meaninglessness.

The Internet cannot create an "educational need"

You can say: yes, all these books can be downloaded on the Internet, you can find information in a convenient, interactive, modern format. But the Internet cannot form an "educational need", the Internet does not form the motivation for education. He can only respond to the already prepared interest of the child.

So, we have a lot of books on architecture in our home library. And one of my sons was interested: I think he noticed the large size of these books. He began to look at pictures, read, then copy different types of orders, draw classical buildings with columns. And then, using plans from design books, he began to draw designs of various buildings on graph paper. If we had the richest electronic library on the same architecture, it is unlikely that my eight-year-old kid would have “found” these albums, it would hardly have occurred to him to study the architectural styles of different eras ... And he would hardly have become interested in this topic simply “in Internet”: for some reason, you still need to want to enter some phrase into the search before the great Web gives out its million answers.

In order for our home library to help us in raising children, in introducing them to literature, so that it would be an incentive for self-education for all of us, I made for myself such a plan, which, in my opinion, can make the library “work”:

1. Arrange the library so that it is accessible to children. If the library is a locked room, it is "turned off" from the space of the house. It would be nice to keep the books so that they are constantly in front of the eyes of the children. If it is possible to allocate a separate room for the library, then it is good to put desks and desktops for children in this library. And tables for parents too. The child will do homework every day, do something - and will always be surrounded by books. And he will also see how parents work with books.
2. Sort books by topic. Not only for the convenience of working with them. Inscriptions on cabinets or shelves, separate cabinets on topics will attract the attention of the child, declare this or that topic as “existing”.
3. Pick up books for children of different ages. The easier it is to choose a book, the more likely it is that the child will make this choice at all.
4. In general, to select books for the library. Mercilessly destroy all base and immoral waste paper. Remove away, higher, deeper great literature, which actively contradicts the family's value system, so that work with "foreign" books is possible only when the basic moral ideas of a grown child have already been formed.
5. While reading, when there is such a desire, make notes in the books with a pencil. For this, huge fields were made in medieval folios. We pick up a book from our library and see that this place interested dad, but mom didn’t agree with this moment. It is incredibly interesting to read the notes made on the margins of books by my husband - these are cross-references to various authors of various eras ... And then it turns out that we read the book as if together with one of our relatives. This is another unique difference between a paper book and an e-book. And in this case, the home library becomes an interesting kind of such communication of one's thoughts to each other through books.

And last but not least, I think. Arranging a library not for "educating children", but for ourselves, simply taking into account its pedagogical effect. If something is important and interesting to us, we will not close ourselves in our “work”, but we will offer it to our children, including with the help of books. If we want to interest children in something, in the same story, we ourselves, together with the children, will study what we would like to introduce them to. Let the children see how we work, what we read. Let's read together, work together. We will discuss what we read, we will compare books, we will offer children the criteria for selecting literature for reading and discuss these criteria together. We will be attentive to our children, we will be close to them, we will teach them and learn with them. In general, we will live together. United home, united values. Our home library can also help this unity, the upbringing of these values. If we really aspire to this unity and these values.

Modern information storage systems make it possible to fit a solid collection of books on one medium. However, the classic printed home library, the furniture for which is chosen with taste, will never cease to be in demand. Moreover, furniture manufacturers offer a lot of models to create a unique and comfortable environment.

When arranging a library in an apartment, you must adhere to some rules:

• Bright sunlight contributes to the fading of the covers, yellowing of the pages. Therefore, window openings are necessarily decorated with thick curtains, blinds or Roman blinds;
• A certain temperature regime and good ventilation will ensure the long-term preservation of books. Suitable air parameters: temperature 16-19˚ C, humidity - up to 60%. Therefore, heating radiators are covered with decorative special panels, and window frames should be without gaps to prevent drafts;
• There are two types of artificial lighting. The general background will evenly illuminate the room, and local sources (swivel lamps or lamps built into the visor of cabinets) will make it easier to search for books. Floor lamps, wall lamps will make reading literature comfortable and enjoyable;
• Books are best kept upright. In an inclined position, the bindings deform over time, and when books are placed horizontally, there will not be sufficient ventilation;
• Particular attention is paid to the furnishing of the room. Libraries in a classic style are furnished with wooden furniture in dark natural shades. Traditional timeless set: wooden cabinets, armchairs, sofa. If the room serves as a study, then a chair and a massive desk are sure to be installed. Popular accessories are grandfather clocks, expensive work accessories.

Now it is rare to find separate rooms that serve exclusively as a library. The most common option is the library-office.

Varieties

Designers offer many design options for home libraries. Furniture is selected taking into account the style and size of the room, the number of books, the wishes of the owners.

Rack

This cabinet furniture consists of multi-tiered shelves, which are fixed with racks or side walls. Since books weigh quite a lot, the optimal cell length is 55-80 cm. Otherwise, longer shelves (even strong metal ones) can bend under the weight of publications. The height of the cells is determined by the size of the books that will be placed on the shelves. The number of tiers can be very diverse. The depth of the shelves is better to choose with a small margin. For convenient storage of various books, shelving with a depth of 35-40 cm is quite suitable. Shelving designs can be different:

• Open models do not have front flaps. Traditional products are assembled with back and side walls. The main advantage is the low price. You can assemble the rack yourself from different materials. Such furniture is protected from direct sunlight, otherwise the covers and spines of books may fade;
• Closed have doors of a special type. Slide panels move along the structure and cover only some part of the rack;
• Archival shelving is convenient to use for long-term storage of books. As a rule, they are open and assembled from metal elements;
• Modular racks are completed from separate blocks or metal base structures are complemented by special open wooden boxes. A special advantage of such furniture is that it is easy to rearrange, add individual elements or remove.

Shelving helps to organize space perfectly, are inexpensive and fit perfectly into home libraries of different styles.

Closet

This furniture is an integral and traditional element of the home library. Books in cabinets are recommended to be placed in one row, so the optimal depth of shelves for ordinary books is 15-25 cm (for large publications - 30-35 cm). Bookcases are available in case, built-in and modular.

1. Case models are considered the most popular. The main advantages of furniture are mobility and wide functionality. Swing doors can have blind or glass canvases (tinted, transparent). Most often, bookcases are completed with combined facades with glass inserts;
2. A modern version of the built-in models - wardrobe. Such furniture cannot be rearranged, but this disadvantage is more than offset by the advantages: since there are no gaps between the cabinet and the wall, less dust is collected, internal shelves are attached directly to the walls, which significantly reduces the cost of furniture;
3. Modular products consist of individual elements and allow you to create furniture sets of various sizes and shapes. Separate storage systems can be open and are quite suitable for storing newspapers and magazines.

You can install both open and closed cabinets in the library. It is better to give preference to furniture with doors - so the books get less dust and the atmosphere has a more aesthetic appearance.

Separately, it is worth noting the formal cabinets, consisting of small drawers. For a large library, it is imperative to create a catalog that will make it easier to find the books you need.

Table and chair

To spend time comfortably, only a sofa or chair may not be enough. If it is supposed to work indoors, then the furniture for the home library must be complemented by a table and chair:

• A regular reading table has no additional drawers or internal compartments. To make it convenient to read a book or work with a catalog, a table lamp, note paper and a pen / pencil are enough;
• In small rooms, you can install a transforming table, which, when folded, will stand against the wall. And in the unfolded form, the table allows several people to sit comfortably to solve some working moments;
• At computer tables, stands for monitors and laptops can be fixed on the tabletops.

To ensure a full-fledged working environment in the libraries-offices, chairs are needed. In order not to get tired in the process of work, chairs with high backs and armrests are selected. To work at a computer desk, it is advisable to choose models of orthopedic chairs equipped with wheels. It is advisable to select products that can be adjusted in height, seating depth and always with armrests.

Armchair

Chairs can be installed in traditional libraries for comfortable reading of books. The best option is chairs with an additional pouffe / special footrest. Such models of furniture will allow you to enjoy reading books for a long time. Products are selected in medium sizes - so that the reader does not feel stiffness, but it is also convenient to lean on the armrests.

The upholstery is chosen taking into account the design of the room. For a library in a classic style, leather, velor, jacquard are suitable. Products with plain upholstery made of linen, faux suede will perfectly fit into the modern style.

Manufacturing materials

Often home library furniture emphasize the status of the owner. And then for the furnishings of the room are selected products from expensive woods: oak, beech, ash. Wooden cabinets and shelving look solid, presentable and can retain their original appearance for many years. Furniture for a home library, decorated in a modern or high-tech style, can be created from plastic, metal, MDF or chipboard.

For the manufacture of glass doors, manufacturers use tempered glass, coated on the inside with a special film for strength. Such doors perfectly protect the contents of cabinets from dust, bright sunlight and are transparent or matte. In cabinet cabinets, door leafs can have a combined facade. The lower part of the canvas is made deaf, and the upper part is made of glass. The lower closed shelves in such cabinets can be used to store not only books.

How to arrange and secure

To prevent the rooms from looking cluttered, it is recommended to follow the advice of designers on the arrangement of furniture in the library:

• In small rooms, bookcases are installed along one wall. Moreover, the shelves are located from floor to ceiling;
• An excellent solution is to arrange bookcases or shelving around openings (doors or windows). For the design of structures, reliable wooden or metal bases are used;
• To prevent bookcases from creating a monolithic heavy look, separate sections are placed along the walls, between window openings. In this case, it is possible to conveniently organize books - you can select special cabinets for children's literature, scientific or home;
• In order not to lose precious meters, bookshelves are built up to the ceiling. It is difficult to use such a high environment without special devices. The optimal solution is a neat mobile ladder. To move it along the bookshelves, a monorail is specially fixed. The ladder easily moves left and right and allows you to quickly and conveniently get / put books in place from any upper shelves;
• If you choose modular book storage systems, it will be easy to add / reduce sections. Such items are quickly rearranged.

Since the structures for storing literature are of impressive size and solid weight (due to the many books), special attention is paid to fixing furniture:

• Racks of clear geometric lines have a wall mount, which is visually almost imperceptible. Or the racks on which the shelves are fixed are fixed on the flow and on the floor. Making such a mount takes some time, but there will be an “iron” guarantee that the structure will not fall with an accidental push;
• The island fastening of shelving looks spectacular in large rooms, since items can additionally perform a zoning function. At the same time, it is better to make furniture “through” - the racks are assembled without rear walls. The shelves are double-width, as books can be placed on them on both sides. An interesting solution is rotating racks, the shelves of which rotate around their axis. The base is fixed on the floor and ceiling.

To create an exquisite home library, you will have to spend some time planning book storage systems, choosing finishes, organizing lighting. However, reading paper books in a comfortable environment will make your leisure time pleasant, and the evening cozy.

Photo

In the era of electronic gadgets, classic books are a thing of the past. They are replaced by shiny tablets and readers. So does it make sense to buy paper editions and build a library?

I spent all my childhood and youth among books. My grandfather, a former amateur book collector, built a room at home that we still call the "library" today. On the shelves are collected works of various authors and genres. You can find thick volumes with the works of the classics: Pushkin, Tolstoy, Gogol, Hugo and many others, as well as compact collections of works by poets of the Silver Age and songs by Vysotsky. The library has a complete collection of works by Dickens, Greene and Remarque, and fantastic gems are collected on a separate shelf. It was in this haven of books that I lived since childhood, reading all day long, and at night hiding under the covers with another adventure novel. I loved the books around me with all my heart. But, having learned about such a miracle of technology as an e-book, I could not deny myself and bought it. For a long time, all family treasures were forgotten. The shelves were covered with dust, while I eagerly read the novelties of modern authors. After all, hundreds of books can be downloaded to the reader, and it is convenient to read them anywhere, be it a bus, a queue at a hospital or a beach.

While looking for another book on the net, I remembered that my parents had this work in my room. And I again plunged into the magical world of paper books. Going through the volumes one by one, I simply could not resist the power of living books. What a pleasure it is to pick up a book, breathe in the smell and flip through the pages, enjoy the curious illustrations and fall asleep holding a heavy volume in your hands.

It is worth collecting a home library because books are material, it is not just an electronic text. They have their own appearance, aroma, you want to take them in your hands, and remembering any work, a picture arises in your head about a volume stored at home. Books will come to the rescue when the electricity and the Internet are turned off, when your favorite gadget is broken. Paper has its own magic, and it is more pleasant for me to read paper editions. On the pages of the book, you can make notes, bookmarks, and then, at the right time, update your knowledge.

Together with books, comfort and a desire for education come into the house. I noticed from my little niece that at our house her eyes light up, and she, looking at adults reading, enthusiastically flips through children's books and encyclopedias about animals. The home library is a great opportunity to draw children's attention to literature. Books on the shelves involuntarily attract. Constantly passing by them, no, no, but you will take this or that book to read. This will never happen with hundreds of e-books stored in a far-hidden folder on a computer.

E-books are the future. New technologies do not stand still and every year they become more convenient. The amount of memory on them is increasing, manufacturers are upgrading the screen and battery power. Readers are convenient, allow you to read anywhere and at any time. For "one-time" reading, e-books are the best fit. But I will continue to keep my favorite paper editions on the shelves. They may take up a lot of space and are not as mobile as electronic ones, but they are real. Each book is a little friend with whom you can communicate at any time.

I think it's great to collect a collection of good books! Not if you buy volumes "for show" and interior decoration. Books for the soul, gems that you like, works that you want to share, these are the things worth keeping. I love my home library, and for me it does not lose its relevance.

What do you think, is it worth it for a modern person to collect a home library? Do you keep books at home or read them exclusively in electronic form?