A personal-library inventory
that records more than the title
Most book inventories stop at title and author. That's fine for insurance totals and useless for collectors. This template records the things you actually need to remember: which edition you own, what condition it's in, where it came from, and what you paid.
Download the CSV template Plain CSV · opens in Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets · 14 columns explained below
The columns, and why each earns its place
- Title / Author
- Standard, but record the title exactly as printed on the title page — not the spine or the listing.
- Edition & printing
- What the copyright page tells you: "First Edition" statement, number line, printing number. If you don't know, write "unverified" — honesty here is what makes the rest of the row trustworthy.
- Publisher / Year
- The publisher of your copy's printing, which may differ from the original.
- ISBN
- For modern books; older illustrated editions may only have an ISBN on the dust jacket or not at all.
- Format & dust jacket
- Hardback or paperback, and separately whether the dust jacket is present. On illustrated books the jacket can be a large share of the value.
- Condition notes
- Free text, but work the checklist: corners, joints, gutter, sun-fading, plates all present, ex-library marks, smells. [Our used-buying checklist](/guides/buying-used-illustrated-hardbacks/) uses the same vocabulary.
- Provenance / source
- Where you got it — shop, estate sale, gift — and anything known about its history. Future-you cares.
- Purchase date & price
- Because eventually you will want to know, and memory will not help.
- Photos taken
- A simple Y/N: did you photograph the binding, jacket, and any flaws? Condition photos are what you'll wish you had in a dispute or an insurance claim.
Free now, more later
The CSV is the complete core tool. An expanded version — a formatted workbook with the condition-photo checklist built in and an acquisition log sheet — is planned. The honest version of this announcement: it isn't finished, and it won't ship until it solves the problem better than the free CSV already does.
Questions or column suggestions: the [About page](/about/) explains where this site stands.