A well-stocked bookshelf is paramount to a child's development, but that doesn't mean you have to own hundreds of books. A visit to your local library, in which you can find most any title and borrow upwards of 30 page-turners at a time, will keep any avid reader occupied.
What to Ditch:
- Duplicates. Like with toys, you don't need three copies of Oh, the Places You'll Go!, as wonderful as the Dr. Seuss story is.
- Books that are falling apart. Ripped pages, broken spines, crinkled pages from one too many juice spills — those are the telltale signs of a well-read book primed to be passed on.
What to Keep:
- First reads. Some of the very first bedtime stories you read to your kids when they were infants should be memorialized.
- Books with special inscriptions. Sometimes, when a loved one gives a book as a gift, they write a message on the inside cover. Be sure to flip through the first few pages to look for any particularly touching notes worth saving.
