The internet isn’t working. No matter what you try to do or restart, you can not access your saved documents in the cloud or the file-sharing apps. You need that document on how to treat bumblefoot in your chickens and the other one on preserving pickles. You can’t remember how much bleach to add to the water to make it safe to drink. You don’t know how to make a volcano stove. You don’t have any printed materials to reference to do what you need to do.

You need to put together a reference library to avoid these situations. The internet may go down for days or weeks. You may experience a power outage and be unable to power up your devices for more than a brief moment. You may not be able to print anything. Situations like this happen and you can avoid them by taking the time to be prepared.

Having a reference library is a crucial step in being prepared. Paper books are always easy to use and never become inaccessible when the technology fails. You might not have everything you need in one book, but you can put together a library that can help you through almost anything.

Your reference library should encompass a wide range of topics. You never know what you will need until you really need it so having multiple books on a subject is also wise. Find books on these topics:

– First Aid and Health: Conventional topics and Alternative Therapies
– Preparedness Books
– Homesteading and Self-Sufficiency Books
– Gardening Books
– Foraging Books
– Cookbooks
– Canning Books
– Livestock Books: Raising Livestock and Butchering/Preserving Meat
– How to Books: Wiring, Plumbing, Building, Fencing, etc.
– Frugal Living Books

My reference library is never quite complete because I am a bibliophile. My library is forever growing, but I have books that I constantly reference. These are some of my favorites (in no particular order):

Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery

Storey’s Basic Country Skills by John and Martha Storey

The Intermediate Guide to Raising Chickens: How to Expand and Maintain a Happy Backyard Flock (Raising Chickens Guide) by Amber Bradshaw

The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle by Amy Dacyczyn

How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times by James Wesley Rawles

Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide: 2nd Edition: Food, Shelter, Security, Off-the-Grid Power, and More Lifesaving Strategies for Self-Sufficient Living by Jim Cobb

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbooks (The older the better because of the techniques they teach)

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

The Prepper’s Canning Guide: Affordably Stockpile a Lifesaving Supply of Nutritious, Delicious, Shelf-Stable Foods by Daisy Luther

The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Harvest, Treat, and Store Your Most Vital Resource by Daisy Luther

The Survival Medicine Handbook: The Essential Guide for When Help is NOT on the Way by Joe and Amy Alton

Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson

Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook (2024 Revision) by David Werner

Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte

Midwest Medicinal Plants: Identify, Harvest, and Use 109 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness by Lisa M. Rose

The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer

Just in Case: How to Be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens by Kathy Harrison

The Penny-Pinching Prepper: Save More, Spend Less and Get Prepared for Any Disaster by Bernie Carr

I have many more books in my reference library, but these are the ones I use the most. I also have some I still need to read. Depending on your interests and the way you want to be prepared, your library might look different than mine.

Another thing to consider is every document, PDF, and other downloaded materials you have saved on your phone, computers, and tablets. You probably also have emails, bookmarked sites and pages, and files that you save for just in case. One thing I have done is to print these off and put them in binders. I have the binders organized into different categories so I can grab the one I need. I would also label the outside of the binders to indicate which articles or documents are inside.

You can also print off ebooks if the author and website owner have permitted it. If you find that ebook of value, then you should print it off. I encourage this with everyone who has purchased and downloaded my two ebooks: The Prepper’s Yearbook and The Dirty Truth About How to Start Homesteading.

What books do you have in your reference library?

Thanks for reading,
Erica

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