No, they aren't history for the foreseeable future. They're great to display other things.

Do you know that Kindle books can be changed and deleted without you being notified? If you didn't, I suggest you look into it. It's 1984 in 2014.

HI -- Well no body told me ..... bookcases are not history , you have to have bookcases to store your history on , don't you ???

I've had Kindles since they came out, but I love books, too. I can't imagine living without books and always astonished at how many homes here lack any evidence of any.

A Kindle is, admittedly, convenient (especially come "moving time"!). But trying to avoid the sun's glare on a viewscreen will never come close to the full sensory experience a book gives, from the cover's artwork, the heft of it's weight, even the musty smell old books carry...No, bookshelves will never be "history" in any home I inhabit.

Thanks for the input. I've been wondering. A lot of living rooms shown on house don't have bookcases, and those that do are usually stocked with coffee table books on decoration and a few vases or other objets. My physiotherapist was telling me how she'd made her husband toss most of his books because she was sick of the dust, and I wondered if I should do the same. Most of my books are as far from coffee table as you can get - often bought second-hand, usually crime novels. Nothing that's going to impress anyone! Would your views change given this info??

And robind02: I have moved about 30 times in the last 30 years. I know all about unstacking and boxing and restacking!

Sometimes ...you can tell a lot about a person ...as to what books they have on their bookcase ......They are not history .....They just hold history ....and are informative ......Telling a story just like a book ...your Kindle can have a space on your bookcase ...but it will never replace a BOOK

mcqk, most rooms shown on Houzz are for display, not for living. My library is similar to yours, with some hard cover titles but a huge number of paperback novels that I'm trying to weed out. As long as I have books, they'll be on bookshelves, at least once I get them out of the footlockers they've been living in during remodeling!

@makaloco .......good luck with the weeding ...
And hurry up .....get your books back on your bookcase ...
Books are meant to be seen and read ....not hidden away
Also good luck with the remodelling

mcqk--- your information doesn't change my mind in the least. Someone once talked me into selling most of my books, a piece of advice I've many times regretted following. I've also moved around a lot, and a habit I started after High School was not only writing my name on the first page, but also the date and where I was when I bought it. My books ---also many 2nd hand paperbacks--show my interests, growth, and the trail of one writer leading to the next discovery and form a diary of a sort by themselves. No, I don't think you should let go of your books because they may not be "pretty" coffee table books or erudite tomes that would impress--fill your home and your bookcases-with what you love. Just like having pets, piles of books just mean you vacuum more.

Vintage Jazz:
"Books are meant to be seen and read ...."
And dusted, lol. Amazing, the amount of dust a remodel can generate. Cement dust, brick dust, wood dust, grout dust, dust dust ...

Oh ... You like a good coffee table with your book ...
What is a coffee table book anyway ... Just for show ....Balance the room ...
Balance more books on .....
Let go of your books... So someone else might read them ...
Not just because fashion dictates you ...
Love secondhand books....
@makaloco .... Heavens ...that's a lot of Dust ...
A machine you plug in ....
and turn on is called a Hoover

...

Much better when the man is doing it lol

Oh, yes, but the pages of the books get bent when I try to hoover them, lol. :)

In that case ...may I recommend
you get a man that can
No bookcases were harmed during this comment

Thanks for all the reassuring and amusing comments. I'm hanging on to my bookcases, but some pruning might be advised. Not the Vintage noir crime books, not Larry Block or Ed McBain. I think I should ditch the books I bought because I wanted to look erudite. Nobody is going to mistake me for that.

I'll churn along happily in my low-brow way. The good news is, I have tons of books that I can reread, and at my age, it's not as though I remember the first go-round. Bingo!

No bookcases in my home, but there are plenty of books to read. I don't like much clutter.