Everyone has books, some more than others. And some people, my husband among them, have so many books that their display demands not just shelves or bookcases but entire rooms.

But let's back up a minute. An e-mail from Austin, Texas, designer Marc English prompted this column. He queried friends and colleagues about how they have organized their own books. "We're about to expand at the studio and while we're at it add more shelf space," he wrote. "My query, and feel free to be as simple or complex as you've time for, [is] how do you order your books? Dewey Decimal? Dewey-eyed sentimentality? Small to large? Thin to fat? I've a chance to re-organize 20 years of collecting—does the signed Fred Goudy go with Type or with Special Collections? Or on the shelf behind my desk?—and want to make that order as useful as possible to my team."

At his studio English, like most creatives in the industry, has shelves of annuals, as well as books on typography, identity, monographs, historical styles, etc. It's how you order all those elements that can prove difficult, and, of course, space is almost always an issue.

Everyone who responded to Marc's e-mail (as well as those I subsequently sent to solicit comments) sent photos of shelves nearly obscured by rows of books and objets d'art—each a snapshot of its owner's interests and passions. Within that fulsome variety of bookshelves are differing strategies about the arrangement of space, and the arrangement of ideas: most choose to group by topic, which indicates the subject is of primary importance; by author, which places the writer at higher value; some group tomes by their size, others by color and others alphabetically or by category; and some others stack their books, piling them horizontally onto shelves, creating Jenny Holzer-type aphorisms through the clever juxtaposition of titles.

When setting up Communication Arts's library several years ago, I divided the books into the various disciplines covered in the magazine: design, advertising, photography, illustration and interactive media. Each of those categories was further subdivided into specific topics such as branding, package or Web design. Being somewhat obsessive I alphabetized the titles within each of those sections, further grouping them by author. A few shelves were also dedicated to resources like books on the production process and a separate section was reserved for fine art books used for inspiration, reference and fact checking.

Today we are used to the accessibility of the printed word. Medieval monks didn't have the luxury of reading in bed—books were so rare they were chained to shelves to prevent theft. Romans used niches—like pigeonholes—a well-read Roman might have 3,000 scrolls in his personal library. In the 21st century there are software programs that enable one to create a virtual library, such as Delicious Library 2 for Macs or Bookshelf 1.2 for Windows, but in the physical world, books still need to go somewhere.

DEWEY AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Let's start with a brief history of book organization. After all, it's always good to know the rules before you go about breaking them.

The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) System is the international standard for library classification. Organizational whiz kid Melvil Dewey invented his system at the age of 21 while working as a student assistant in the Amherst College Library. Dewey disliked having to hunt for books of the same subject in many different places so he grouped similar subjects together and classified them by numbers from 001 through 900. After graduation, Dewey became the college librarian. While DDC is used in most public libraries—you possibly had this in your grade school—the Library of Congress Classification (LLC) System is used by most academic and research libraries. The LLC System assigns each subject a one or two letter code; to confuse matters, these letters do not necessarily correspond to the first letter of the subject they represent, e.g., Z = Bibliography, Printing, Publishing, etc. There is a five-volume set of Library of Congress Subject Headings, but we're talking about the much-vaunted real world and likely you don't have time to get that complicated.

FENG SHUI PRINCIPLES
One way to consider organizing books is to employ Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement. "A library of books will create a very positive effect in Feng Shui terms: They are a stimulus to attract learned people, to promote studio activities and further development within a company," explains certified Feng Shui practitioner Marina Lighthouse (www.fengshui.nu). "It is important to include books in any office setting. Books are a symbol for intelligence and knowledge and will give a very positive first impression to your clients and support these attributes within your staff."

If one is considering using Feng Shui principles, says Lighthouse, "The color of the walls can also have a positive effect on the office library. Most office libraries should have a quiet meditative atmosphere. Wall colors for this room should be chosen by the type of books the staff reads. Brown is an appropriate color for those referring to serious books. For less serious readers pale blue, light green or rose-pink work well. They are very supportive to creative environments."

And finally, Lighthouse cautions, "When creating the office library do not block windows with bookshelves, it can affect your career, and cause future negativity. Solution: Move the bookshelf!"