Everyman's Library: How To Start Collecting A Library Of Your Own

For the first instalment in our Everyman's Library guest posts, we look at how to begin building a library any literary scholar would be proud of.

School of Life bibliotherapists Ella Berthoud, Susan Elderkin and Simona Lyons met as English students at Cambridge University, and were instantly drawn together by a deep and shared passion for literature. In their chosen career they live, breathe and dream books.

What they love about their job is the satisfaction of finding exactly the right book for the right person at the right time in their lives. Simona offers her advice on starting to collect a library of your own.

  • Select books to mark significant moments in your life - a childhood favourite in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Jane Eyre for a coming of age story, The Master and Margarita for times of travel and The Great Gatsby for leaving home.
  • Your bookshelves can be a great expression of your personality. Create a favourite shelf which could be organised chronologically by date read, so that your books form a literary diary of your life.
  • Create a reading nook somewhere in your house - a peaceful spot with natural light - free from all distractions.
  • Keep a reading journal. Whenever your finish reading a book, write down the title and author, the date and place you were when you read it, plus a few lines on how you felt about it. This will help you to cement your relationship with the book and, if it is a novel, enable the characters from the story to live on.

Find the perfect frame to start building your library with our collection of contemporary and classic Bookcases and Shelving.

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