“When I have a house of my own,” said a character in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, “I shall be quite miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

While many of us can’t imagine living without books, storing them can be a problem. Even a small collection takes up space.

Whether you’re a young bookowner just starting to build a collection or a seasoned reader with a haphazard library, you can gain even greater pleasure from the books you own if you think of them as your personal library collection and treat them as such.

If you’re ready to turn a pile of books into an orderly and beloved library, here are some guidelines for organizing your collection and building it into something really special.

Take an inventory of the books you currently own. Do you really want to keep that old college biology book? The forgotten bestseller from 1980? Your library will serve your needs best when it’s made up of books you truly love.

Begin by pruning your collection. Check with family members and friends to see if anyone wants to adopt your outcasts.  Box up unwanted titles and sell them to a used bookdealer or donate them to a literacy project.

Organize the books you want to keep. What categories do you find?  Group books together by subject and alphabetize them by author within each section. Subdivide larger sections.

If, for instance, you love fiction, organize your novels into American, English and World Fiction divisions for greater ease in locating.  As your library grows, new acquisitions fit naturally and neatly into existing departments.

While family members may have their personal books housed in their bedrooms, ask them to share favorites with everyone. The bookshelves in your home should reflect the reading tastes of the people who live there, not just the adult readers.

My daughter has introduced me to wonderful books throughout her life that I would have missed without her recommendation. Sharing a passion for reading should not be just an adult-to-child activity.  Sample books that your kids love, too.

Keep book notes. When a friend suggests a book or you read a review or see an author interviewed on television, jot down the title and any other special information about the book  you want to remember.

Your trips to the bookstore will be more fruitful if you have particular titles in mind to investigate.  These lists also come in handy at gift-giving time when a friend or family member asks for suggestions for the perfect gift.

Track down alternative sources of books. Many bookstores rely heavily on new titles, but don’t stock books that were on the scene a year or so ago.

Library sales, secondhand bookstores, out-of-print search firms and garage sales are all places where you might uncover a treasure. It takes time to browse through a pile of used books, but there’s great delight to be had when you discover a title you’ve been hunting.

Many booklovers build visits to great bookstores into their travels, too. If you’re traveling to another part of the country or abroad, investigate the local book scene.

Build a special collection. Your friends and family can share in the hunt for new additions.

Of course, a specialized collection acquired over the years can become valuable and be sold or donated to a favorite college or library—or passed on as an heirloom.

Don’t forget the classics. Those wonderful stories that have thrilled readers for generations deserve a spot in your library, too.

Writer Jim Rohn says, “Some people read so little that they have rickets of the mind. Don’t just feed your mind the easy stuff. You can’t live on mental candy.”

Meeting Silas Marner as an adult isn’t at all like meeting him in junior high school.  “When you reread a classic,” says Clifton Fadiman, “you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than was there before.”

Design a personal reading project. Whether it’s a favorite author or a theme or a new subject that interests you, give yourself the gift of a personally created reading project, one that spans several months or, even, years. It will enrich both you and your library.

Building your own library can offer a lifetime of joy and satisfaction that can’t be found any other way. And, best of all, you  can spend everyday surrounded by the books that you love and cherish most.