has anyone organized a small library of books?

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there are about 150-200 and I can't really put them into categorys so I'm thinking alphabetically by author's last name is what I'm going to do. But I also have to label them with a labeler, so should I write the first 2 or 3 letters of the author's last name? and if anyone has ever organized books do you have any tips for me? thanks

Author's last name is a fine way to organize. You might want to separate the fiction from the non-fiction, if the collection contains both. There is an fantastic website, www.librarything.com, that allows you catalog up to 200 books for free so you can access the catalog from anywhere on the web--you might find some more tips on there for handling small collections.

I just have my books sorted by size... ¬_¬

And I'll try to organize by series...Twist-a-Plot style books all next to each other, sequels next to each other, books by the same author, etc.

Other than that, I just put books wherever I have room for them =/

It depends greatly on whether you're intending to locate single books or series.

If it's mostly single books, the just use the Author's surname.

If you're handing a lot of Series (eg: Star Wars novels which are written by lots of different people) then you're better off categorising by title (full title including the series name).

Whichever way you go;

1. Use a computer system to catalogue them - there are plenty of free ones out there... and use one that supports multiple locations because you might want to archive things into boxes later. If you use an online system, make sure that you can export to a useful file format for local backups too.

2. Consider a size distinction for Quarto (very large) books as these take too much shelf space if interfiled with novel sized books.

I use a sort of "organized chaos".

Though I noticed that my parents arranged their old books in order by subject. I can't understand why they bother, they never seem to read any of them.

Have a fiction section, and then a nonfiction section.

When you label them, do authors last name first two letters. If you have multiple authors with say DE using DEA etc for a few would be wise. Once you sort by authors last name, you sort by title. This is needed in public libraries but for a personal library I don't find it necessary-- organizing by series or publish date would be better in some cases.

In libraries nonfiction is organized by dewey decimal system. I do not do that with my nonfiction books, partly because I do not have enough of them for it to really need it (or a broad range of subjects for it to need it). I'd suggest doing these by authors last name, or general subject if you do not have many. As in, psychology and health in one area and geography languages culture etc in another area.

what kind of labeler should I use?

and on librarything is here a way to keep track of when books are loaned out?

I had about 1,600 books altogether, and just wrote a database in Access. Had author, title, subject, publisher, and LOC (Library of Congress, at least in the US, usually looks like 607-0153648-032, or such). A few queries written, and there you are.

It was good for authors like Terry Pratchett and Heinlien (in terms of not buying something you'd already read...

The big question is, what do you want to use it for? That's how you should organize it.

its a small lending library. people will be checking books out every once in awhile, so I need to also keep track of what books are being borrowed.

I have lots and lots of books. I organise them firstly by whether they are fiction or non-fiction. Then by author's last name, and then chronologically if I have more than one book by an author.

I have a few thousand e-books and they are all sorted alphabetically, with a folder made for an author if I have more than one book from them.

I use the same system for CDs and movies

In terms of labelling, we used to use an old typewriter and sticky square labels. These days you could probably do a lot better by getting a dymo label printer. These printers let you print labels out one at a time.

Also, if you stick labels on the books, make sure that you cover the labels with sticky contact afterwards (you can actually buy little larger than label sized contact sheets). Alternatively, stick the label then contact/cover the entire book after.

Decide on a particular height measurement from the base of the spine of the book. This will ensure that your labels are all the same height and look nice on the shelves.

Also, consider stamping the inside title page with a library stamp - and also stamp across the or side of the book (across the pages).

In my own personal experience, I find it's best to make sure it's not a book I will miss, or it's one I can easily find another copy of at Goodwill or something...maybe it's just me, but every time I lend out a book, there's very slim chances of me ever getting it back =(

I wish I had 150-200 books.