Books are meant to be read. Give them to school libraries, or hospitals, or battered
women's shelters.
Imagine the joy they've given you being passed onto someone else.
Think of the minds that can be expanded by the stories you love.
Sometimes, if we are able to shift our perspectives, even just a little bit,
we can accomplish the things we think are too hard to do.

Books will eventually get silverfish eating the spine glue or mold/mildew between the pages. Stop thinking of them as a permanent life fixturse. You can get all of them at your library and/or your computer!

I definitely understand that. Is there any way you could donate them and share that knowledge with others?

Also realize you can probably visit any of those titles through an online library. I too have an accumulation of printed books. But I know have an equal collection on my Kindle - where I have no need to make room for them.
If you have a regional library system they should be able to get most of the books for you as well.
And yes I'd find that hard too. Some books go back to my childhood or even further.

I love books, they way they smell, feel, sound when you are reading them...but I have mostly given them up in lieu of online books. Now I have them wherever I go and no matter how many I have, they never weigh more than my phone or tablet and they never take up extra space.

I had the same problem when I moved to Thailand in 2010.
I donated all the new, illustrated educational books to my home schooling niece, and donated the rest of them to my local library, for tax benefits.

I now also follow the advice of Mari Kondo, in her book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing."
The trick is to sort similar items into piles; screwdrivers, scissors, notebooks, etc. Then get rid of duplicates.

Next, go through your clothes, shoes, etc., by category, picking up each item. If you don't feel joy when holding it, give it away, no matter who bought it for you, or how much it cost.
When you are done, your house will never be cluttered again.

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”

This is exactly why I switched to e-readers years ago. I have my entire library carried in a device of a few ounces, to be read anytime, anywhere. I can find passages or specific words with the search function, I can highlight and annotate things without permanently marking up a book, etc.

It took me about four years to convince my wife to let go of her attachment to paper books and now she thanks me for it almost every day and wonders what she was thinking. We both read ourselves to sleep with our iPads every night

There's a book called "the life changing art of tidying up". In it the author says the best way to get rid of things like that is to literally hold it, and thank it for what it gave you, and pass it along. I've done that with some things, it's quite cathartic.

I imagine you have some rare ones that are probably out of print. I dread the same problem and sometimes ending up buying it again. If you have any friends who have similar likes then you should parcel them off to them to dispose of which I am sure they will do as you wish. If they are classics or out of print you can see if someone would be interested in buying them. If you look them up on line you will find sites who will buy them or at least offer to buy them, but you have to see what the going price is and how rare they are. Its a fun thing to get involved with and you find some you never knew about. I would go with your friends or a club if you belong to any as another way to lessen the load.

I have a similar problem. Lots of great books, no place for them to go. Boxing them up and listing the contents of each box is a first step. If you can afford a storage locker have them transported to there. If you have a reliable friend ask them if they could store them.

I’m having this same problem. Which art books do I keep and what do I get rid of as I downsize?

I agree with @KKGator 100%. When I moved from Seattle to Louisiana, I sold some of my boxes and boxes of books to Half Price Books and gave some away.

In the last nine years, I have kept very very few books because I want to share books the same that I would share food, a recipe, or any recommendation.

They gave me joy in the reading and, since I know I won't read most of them more than once, they get passed on for others to enjoy -- and HAPPILY so.

Donate them to a public library when death takes you..

And then as Churchill is reputed to have said:

if you donate them to the library you can always go back and take them out again - at least worth a talk with your local librarian

I culled a TON when I moved. I feel your pain! There are still a dozen boxes in my attic that I couldn't part with. Eventually, I'll be able to get rid of some of them too. It's a process. Don't feel that you have to get rid of them all at once. If your new place has a spare bedroom, but up some shelves and fill them with your books. Even if your place is small and the shelves are an eye-sore. Then, once a month, pick one (or more!) to donate to the local library. Ours has an ongoing used book sale. Your desire for less clutter will help you decide which ones to eliminate. If you have some unusual ones, consider selling them on eBay.

We have a new branch library in my neighborhood, and they are glad to get the books I have been donating to them. Have seen several on the shelves, and some in the book sales to help keep the place going. We have access to all of the books in the counties system. Might make a list, and see if in the library, so if you give them away, can always get the book to read. Might work, except for any inscriptions in your books.

Does the printed/ written word have greater validity than the reproduction of the same thing on a computer screen?

I suggest the answer emotively is yes, practically yes but factually no.

I recently received my electricity bill. We have so called digital "smart meters" recording usage complete with the current balance on the register. The sum of my off peak and normal meter totalled about 30600 kWh of electricity consumed to the commencement date of the bill. The closing reading was about 500 kWh. The company had charged me for about 700 kWh. consumption. On enquiry into this phenomenon I was told that they had zero'd the voltage to the meter which resulted in it resetting to zero. I therefore asked "what day did this occur?""We can't tell you, sir!" Beware when they start to call you sir - a very large piece of bullshit is heading your way! "Well when you zeroed the meter did you record what the closing count was?" "Oh no sir! We work off your daily consumption now, it's measured in half hour increments."
"So you are running an unethical or corrupt business that cannot prove what it says it has supplied?""Certainly not sir. We are very honest!" "Lol, so honest that you are unable to stand before a judge and say "here is the opening balance, here is the closing balance and one subtracted from the other is the consumption?"
So I have made an opening gambit claim that they owe me about $7000 for my supply as evidenced by the power company figures on my bill...the ombudsman asked "how can you prove that miracle?""Now we are getting religious! But my entitlement, in a land of equality, requires the same consideration as their claim that I have used 700 kWh''. He declined to admit that we do not live in a land of equality.
8)

Several times I accumulated book only to have to give them up for a move. I now just use libraries.

It is a shame that many libraries don't take book conations, but have a policy of buying books that are newly printed. However, your local librarian may know of options of what to do with your books, so they don't go to waste and are used for a good cause.

Every six months our local school has a book fair. Books costing upto $150 are sold for $1 each. At the end of the fair the tons of unsold books are loaded onto a truck and carted to the tip.
That sadly is what today's people seem to think about printed books.

I empathize with you. At one time, I had at least 2,000 books, Predominantly non-fiction. My wife urged me to deeply prune my collection to make space for other things. That was painful. I threw away all of the insignificant books, gave away several hundred to book organizations, sent boxes full to my daughters. I am down to less than 200 books which mean a great deal to me. I will not prune any further. Due to vision problems, I don't read books anymore, but those books were my friends, my mentors my fellow seekers and conveyors of thought.

I always wonder why I keep books I've already read. I never read them again and they just take up space. I would love a good excuse to get rid of them. It looks like this is your chance.

You took the knowledge you needed from them and I think it's nice to share knowledge with others and there's the internet to help you now to help you. you got to do what you got to do. you can't always have what you want.

yeah, we collect books, lots of books, I know how you feel, have had to cull them in the past.