Finished! What a slog. 42 boxes! At about 45 books a box that’s a staggering 1,890 books liberated from my library’s bookshelves. As I filled box after box with increasing weariness, what kept me going

I was doing great letting go—releasing books into boxes then sending them on their way to loving new homes—despite a strong urge to cling. Hoarding is selfish. Books need to circulate and be read. But after folding closed the 36th box (at 45 books a box, about 1600 books), I hit the wall.

…Last week, one of the floor-to-ceiling bookcases in my library pulled out of the wall. Death by an overloaded seven-foot monster did not appeal.

A box packed with copies of an author’s newly published book should be called a…