The article is devoted to modern practices of collecting, storing and organizing books in the home libraries. Formation of the family home library has become widespread in the USSR in the second half of the 1970 s., at present moment, according to surveys of major sociological services, about 75–80 % of Russian citizens are at home book collections. Materials of focus groups and in-depth interviews conducted in December 2013 in the settlements of various sizes (metropolis — Moscow, the regional center — Kaluga, working village - Berezayka Bologovsky Tver region), allow us to describe and analyze the basic principles of organizing and storing books home libraries in representatives of different social stratas, as well as to consider the strategies used to get rid of unwanted books in an environment where the destruction or discarding of the book is perceived by the public as a cultural taboo.