Trying to Own 1000 Books Without Spending $1000
One thing that I learned very quickly when starting this goal is that buying books can get very expensive very quickly. All the books I’d had on my shelf were bought sporadically throughout the years. So, of course I knew that book buying can hurt the wallet but it doesn’t feel like much of an impact when it’s not all at once. Now that I’ve started buying with more determination, the dent is definitely more noticeable. I’m not saying I’m going broke because of this or that I’m going to recommend not buying books. But I am saying that I quickly realized I needed to find another way to experience a book for the first time. I used to be the kind of person who bought a book and was okay with not having read it before, not knowing if I would keep it, and even just buying it to buy without a purposeful intention of reading immediately. That is financially hard to do if the goal is a 1000 books. As of 2023, the average cost of a book is around $20. If I were to buy a new book to meet my goal, assuming that I keep at least some of the ones that I currently own and not like some of the new books that I buy, the cost would add up to about $20,000 in a span of 5 years or about $4,000 a year. Putting it in that perspective it is not a financially sound decision.
That’s where redirection of my hobby comes in. For the next 5 years I am a reader before a book buyer. I am not a financial expert and I know that many people out there have way better strategies than I do. But so far these are some outlines of how I can meet this goal without needing an extensive budget dedicated to books only. I’ll list out the ideas and why I think they are beneficial
Libraries: Books rentals are free with a library card and a library card is free. Very rarely is there an actual wait time on a book unless maybe the book is very recently released. Renting a book and not liking it is 100% cheaper than buying a book and wasting money on an unliked book. Most libraries have very cheap used books for sale as well. Additionally, libraries are in great need of community attendance.
Audiobooks: Most libraries now provide free audiobooks. I’ve used the Libby app to obtain library audiobooks. If, like me, you have a subscription to a music streaming service you may be able to obtain a certain amount of audiobook listening hours if not the entire book.
Levar Burton Reads: I have yet to try out this podcast but it was recommended by a friend. LeVar Burton Reads is a podcast in which LeVar Burton Reads short fictions. For a millennial who can still sing along to Reading Rainbow the idea of an adult version of Reading Rainbow is very exciting and of course I’m already paying for it in my subscription.
Little Free Libraries: Communities often have “take one, leave one” book stands to promote literacy. Those books that I did not enjoy can be used to trade at one of these libraries for a book that I do want to own or at least sample a new book.
Gift Requests: Even though I don’t expect gifts out of anyone, gifts are traditional for birthdays and Christmas. I have made my friends and family aware of my goal and many of them have started gifting books or Barnes & Noble gift cards.
Sell Nothing Facebook groups: Many cities have Buy Nothing groups on Facebook in which people share items that they no longer want but would like to gift instead of sell. These groups are great to gift the books that I don’t want to hold onto and to obtain books that someone might not have enjoyed but I did and just don’t own yet.
Promotions: Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and other literacy companies have promotions throughout the year that I can take advantage of as long as I go in with the intention to only buy books I already know I will be keeping.
Second Hand Book Shops: My favorite shopping experiences are usually from used book stores. I like giving a book a new home, supporting small businesses, and reducing my carbon footprint by recycling books. And used books are usually half the price of a new book.
https://www.slj.com/story/slj-average-book-prices-2023-follett-baker-taylor