I recently moved. My office is still a desk surrounded by unpacked brown boxes – mostly books. I have a lot of books.

I try to maintain a lifestyle unencumbered by too much extra junk. My wife and I regularly give away anything that we don’t actively use or enjoy. Having less stuff fills me with a sense of freedom. I feel agile and ready to meet change head on like my life is a light ship ready to ride over the waves life throws at me. Ok, well sorta.

I love my books. I hate to throw them away, give them away or lend them out. I guard my library – each book representing something I have consumed. Each one is a part of me. My novels contain places I have been in my mind, friends I have known, companions whom I have accompanied through adventure. I have books on theology – references, lexicons, commentaries – that have shaped the core of who I am and what I believe. I have volumes of history, politics and economics – a part of my identity. Then I have instructional books. Most of those are computer books.

My computer books represent my career, my skills, my craft. I love them all, but there are too many. I need to purge. Will I ever refer back to some chapter on a programming language I haven’t used since the ’90’s? Old computer books have no practical value. I think maybe I keep them so that if someone walks into my office, they will scan the shelves and form a high opinion of me. I don’t want to be THAT guy.

What do you do with your old books?