Too many books?

I think I may have touched on a similar point before (not sure though; the blog search function on Wix is far from ideal) but as a lifelong bibliophile (and as a person who admittedly uses the word "bibliophile" too much) I stubbornly refuse to extend any de-cluttering ethos to my bookshelves. At times when I imagined becoming a nun, I was way more okay with a life of celibacy than I was with having to get rid of all my worldly books. It was quite fitting, then, that my very first job was at a library.

I am no minimalist anyway, but I concede that I would benefit from downsizing. It's been a little while since I did a large purge. And I have gotten rid of some books over the years, donating them to Goodwill or to my local library, the neighborhood Buy Nothing group or in a Little Free Library down the street. But for some reason I still retain the bulk of my book purchases. I cannot part with the rest, nor do I want to. In fact, two of my bookshelves (I have four) are overflowing and I'd say I probably need two or three more large ones to fit everything. I have books in my car and garage for students/teaching, I have books in the living room, I have books in my bedroom scattered all about that I've been meaning to get to. I even books at my mother's house still, what was left behind of the books I took with me to college and beyond. I try to bring some back with me sometimes when I visit for holidays (more difficult now that Southwest Airlines got rid of their two free checked bags, but I digress).

But why though, if I have read the book, do I not pass it along —especially in those cases where I didn't even like the book? I do like how having a home library feels, how it looks. But if I'm being honest, I'm sure part of it is a pride thing. I get anxious about having company, but when people do come over, I like for them to know that I am a reader, to see that I am. I admit that I'd rather appear pretentious (in this regard) than give the impression that I'm not bookish.  I like them to see Shakespeare and science books, artsy books and chick-lit, horror and science fiction and poetry, language and law books and more. I haven't read every book on my shelf yet (at some point I started buying them faster than I was reading them) but I have read many of them. I believe that books are something to treasure.

But I also (begrudgingly) admit that it is a display of excess, and perhaps (unintentionally on my part) reflective of our consumer culture.