# On the Value of Owning a Select Few Books



## Wayne (Oct 4, 2010)

Segue from the Bibliophelia thread:

I'd like to hear discussion on the value of owning just a relatively small library of perhaps at most a few hundred books, give or take a hundred.

A few tentative thoughts, with no consideration of e-books:
1. You can only read just so many books in a lifetime, and our days grow short.
2. Money is generally in scarce supply. Choose wisely!
3. Hardbacks are superior to paperbacks and more costly.
4. Old leather bound books are better still, and generally more costly still.
5. We are responsible to the Lord for how we tend our resources.
6. An excellent book read twice, three times or four is superior to a book read but once.
7. Your favorite books--those that have been most worthwhile in the reading--what's their total number? Wouldn't you most likely profit more from re-reading one of those, over some new title?
8. Pragmatically, moving is way easier with a small library.


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## PuritanZealot (Oct 4, 2010)

I only have a small library, and due to my being rather poor I am restricted to perhaps a purchase or two every month, if that. So, the books I do read other than the Bible have to be carefully selected, and I get chastised by my good wife if I buy something regarded as frivilous (i.e. anything other than theology or sermon collections). 
I would love to have a big library but I would find myself daunted by the prospect of ever reading all of them, so little time! 
I went into my Pastor's office/study at his home the other day and he had shelves floor to ceiling around the whole room and they were literally stacked thick everywhere. He had every copy of the Gospel Standard magazine, in a leather bound hard back, dated and serialised, that's nearly 200 years of annuals...I repented of covetousness before bed.


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## Tim (Oct 4, 2010)

The big thing for me is item #1. We only have a finite amount of time on this earth, so we should not waste it reading material that is not excellent.


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## FenderPriest (Oct 4, 2010)

I think the size of one's library should match and compliment the gifting, talent, and ability of the person to whom it belongs. Some people can read and consume a lot, while retaining the majority of it. Others benefit more from careful and slow reading. In some ways, it also depends on your approach to reading. Not all books are read the same and for the same reasons. We do have a limited amount of time, and depending on one's gifting and calling, the type of reading they should be doing will vary.

It should also be said that not all books are intended to be read thoroughly. The complete collection of Spurgeon's sermons is a great resource to have on hand, but I can imagine only a few people who would want to read all of them. Just as all readers are created differently, so all books are created differently.

It is an interesting historical fact that Jonathan Edwards had no more than 1000 books in his library.


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## LawrenceU (Oct 4, 2010)

Although I confess to being a bibliophile my library is actually quite small when compared to most pastors I know. At one time it was much larger, primarily due to books that had been given to me over the years. When I moved my office home I rid myself of all duplicates, books that weren't worth the paper they were printed on, books of no real consequence, etc. I don't miss them. Since then I have tried to improve my library wisely. Frankly, right now it is frustrating to do so as most of my books are in boxes in the attic due to space limitations. I have two shelves in the spare bedroom right now for active books. It requires a great deal of thought and discipline in study to not have books immediately at one's fingertips.


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## SolaScriptura (Oct 4, 2010)

I have about 1000 books. While not a "huge" library, I find it cumbersome. Most of them are "read it once" type of books. I'm thinking of paring down. I find that I only have maybe 50 books that I re-read.


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## Ivan (Oct 4, 2010)

Define 'few' books. What is the number of books in a 'small' library?


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## Jack K (Oct 4, 2010)

Wayne said:


> a relatively small library of perhaps at most a few hundred books, give or take a hundred.



I just did a rough count of my Christian books. About 400. I didn't know that was anywhere close to a "small" library. I feel quite blessed to have that much.

That said, the point is well-taken. I could probably pare my library down to 100-200 titles and hardly miss the ones I got rid of. Then again, there are at least another 100-200 classics out there that _aren't_ on my shelves but would be great to have.


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## JOwen (Oct 4, 2010)

I have between 2000 and 3000 books. Nothing to write home about as a pastor. This thread has revitalized a notion I have had for quite some time now. I have been thinking of a strictly Puritan library. Under that broad heading I have been considering the following:

1. Collecting hard cover only Puritan writings only (I have approximately 400 to date including all sets).
2. Allowing classic lovers of the Puritans into the library, but they have to be dead (Shedd, Spurgeon, Jay, Winslow, Lloyd-Jones, Pink, Scottish FCoS authors such as Kennedy, et. all).
3. Reserve all fly-by-nighters for my kindle at a much reduced cost ala .mobi. .ePub, etc.

My new congregation has been very generous to supply me with a substantial book allowance once I arrive in New Jersey. Does anyone see a significant downside to this scenario?


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## Ivan (Oct 4, 2010)

I understand your sentiment, Jerrold. However, I'd never limit my library in such a way. I believe in a broad education. There is much in the world that we need to understand in order to speak to people of other backgrounds and cultures.


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## PuritanZealot (Oct 4, 2010)

I would love a Puritan only library, but would obviously have to allow in those Pastors and theologians in the Victorian period who would have been shoulder to shoulder with the divines if they had lived at the time. I often feel that God has limited my access to spare money because of my urge to buy everything an online store has to offer. When I stumbled across Reformation Heritage books I went on a wish list spree that ended with nearly their entire Puritan section. The other bad side is when you finally do yield to buying a book or ten when money allows and I find myself rationalising the other four or five purchases..."well I've spent £40 on sermons and commentaries, what would the other £40 hurt?"
I wonder how God really feels about that kind of hunger for the Word of those who honoured Him? Surely as long as it doesn't become obsessive He would encourage it.


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## fredtgreco (Oct 4, 2010)

JOwen said:


> I have between 2000 and 3000 books. Nothing to write home about as a pastor. This thread has revitalized a notion I have had for quite some time now. I have been thinking of a strictly Puritan library. Under that broad heading I have been considering the following:
> 
> 1. Collecting hard cover only Puritan writings only (I have approximately 400 to date including all sets).
> 2. Allowing classic lovers of the Puritans into the library, but they have to be dead (Shedd, Spurgeon, Jay, Winslow, Lloyd-Jones, Pink, Scottish FCoS authors such as Kennedy, et. all).
> ...


 I think the downside would be in not having modern, lay-oriented books to lend to congregants, and show them when they ask for a book they can read on paedobaptism (for example).


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## DMcFadden (Oct 4, 2010)

In my pastorate, my library was in the 5,000 range. When leaving to come to the retirement home work 13 yrs ago, I off-loaded about 2,500 books. 

In an age of electronic books (many of them available free) my library has swelled to 13,649 on the laptop (Libronix, BibleSoft, QuickVerse, WordSearch, e-Sword, The Word) *plus* PDF versions of things as they become available (mostly complete works and mostly FREE PDFs of Chares Simeon, Ezekiel Hopkins, James Ussher, Edward Reynolds, Jeremiah Burroughs, William Bridge, Daniel Neal, Thomas Case, Thomas Manton, William Guthrie, Thomas Shepard, Thomas Goodwin, John Flavel, Thomas Brooks, Richard Sibbes, Thomas Watson, William Perkins, David Clarkson, Henry Bullinger, Walter Marshall, Herman Witsius, Isaac Ambrose, Benjamin Brook, Philip Doddridge, William Gurnall, John Borwn, John colquhoun, Thomas Gouge, Richard Baxter, John Ball, Stephen Charnock, Williajm Ames, Scougal, etc.). If you add all of the PDF's, my library would be fairly large.

At this stage in life, I am dumping paper copies of just about anything that is not a classic, particularly if it is part of my digital library. Trying to sell my house and move makes the thought of the books still at home more than a little daunting. My past practice was to try to collect every side of every issue in every instantiation possible. There is NOT enough time to read all of that and much of it is of little real use to anyone but a dedicated academic.

After many DUMB book purchases that disadvantaged my family financially, my physical library is now shrinking dramatically, and will have mostly solidly orthodox books, predominately Reformed, many of them Puritans. The "feel" of a good book is indeed wonderful, including several well bound Bibles in high end calfskin. However, for the purposes of reading, studying, and research digital works just fine to augment a more compact physical library of classics. 

A simple Libronix only search of *commentaries* on a text in Romans yielded 86 different commentaries NOT counting the grammars and lexica!!! How many books do you think you can look at on a passage in one week anyhow? If all you did was prepare a sermon, you could probably not read all of these weekly.

I would encourage younger pastors, scholars, and laypersons to examine carefully your reasons for buying books and subject such reasons to scrutiny BEFORE pigging out on things you THINK that you MIGHT need some day. Purchasing expensive ICC volumes of commentaries on books of the Bible I have never preached from (and already have MANY other commentaries covering) was just plain BAD stewardship.

So, yes, count me in on Wayne's proposal!


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## JOwen (Oct 4, 2010)

fredtgreco said:


> JOwen said:
> 
> 
> > I have between 2000 and 3000 books. Nothing to write home about as a pastor. This thread has revitalized a notion I have had for quite some time now. I have been thinking of a strictly Puritan library. Under that broad heading I have been considering the following:
> ...


 
Salient.


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## Wayne (Oct 4, 2010)

Dennis:

Your post makes me realize I should probably post a list here on the PB of the periodicals that I'm still seeking to add to the Historical Center archives.
Journals like:

Antithesis
Contra Mundum
Harbinger
early issues of the Chalcedon Report (pre-#289)
Penpoints
etc.

We've made good progress in the last ten years in building a research library, but still have some significant gaps.


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## Curt (Oct 4, 2010)

Joshua said:


> With all of the electronic media available today pertaining to the Puritans, Reformers, Church Father, etc. I would find it easy for one to trim their Christian library by quite a bit. The value of being able to electronically search, note-take, etc. is really nice. Nevertheless, I grant that there are many who prefer the ink and page. I have no problem with that.


 
I have about 200 volumes at my church office and maybe another 500-750 at home. That's not a lot. I have pared down several times. These days, I do use a lot of electronic media. I do wonder where we will all be, however, if there is a giant solar flare or some such thing, which closes down electronic avenues. I prefer to keep a small, proven, library of good resources.


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## TexanRose (Oct 4, 2010)

I don't see why it is necessary for every family in a congregation to own all the good books. Surely they can be shared? We borrow books from others in the church, and loan ours out as well. The advantage of this system is that you get an opportunity to discuss the book with a friend. 

Better yet would be a good church library.


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## py3ak (Oct 4, 2010)

From a standpoint of the use of limited resources (attention, memory, money, time) it seem quite intuitive that having a library with no bad books is better than having hundreds or thousands of mostly worthless books. Besides, I have also noticed that it seems much easier to obtain bad books than good from the public library. 
Perhaps the really effective way to keep a library small is not to buy books unless you know you want to not only look at them, but really use them. So you could borrow a book first, or examine it on Google books, and only add the physical copy to your library if it really shines.


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## cih1355 (Oct 5, 2010)

If you want to save money on books, you could borrow books from your local library or your friends.


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## N. Eshelman (Oct 5, 2010)

I heart books. I have no problem with a small library- as long as they are good books. I also think of my library as something to hand down to the next generation. If I have three sons that all want to be pastors- it would be nice for them to each get 1200 volumes (hey, it's a good excuse).


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## Wayne (Oct 5, 2010)

cih1355 said:


> If you want to save money on books, you could borrow books from your local library *or your friends*.


 
My favorite Ben Franklin quote would make a great bookplate:



> Only a fool loans books;
> half the books in my library were loaned.


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## Rich Koster (Oct 5, 2010)

I have about 110 books. My wife & I gave away dozens to people who showed interest in some of them, others to new believers and some went to the public library. I'm a slow reader and writer, so I keep it to a minimum here. I have recently started to take advantage of the free access to the many on line libraries to keep my spending to a minimum. I have no children to pass on the library to, so why not circulate it now?


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## jwithnell (Oct 5, 2010)

As a pew-dweller, I find that my interest in authors keeps growing over time. Over the last year or so, I've developed a interest in the Dutch reformers and in Biblical theology, so my buying and reading have been along those lines. I pare off older books that I'm not referencing or re-reading.


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