> It's not like they read all the books either

The point of having a library (personal or otherwise) is not to read every one of the books cover to cover. Knowing where to find a particular book and how to look up what you need inside is incredibly valuable. (Indeed, many books become less useful to keep around after you have read them)

I have many shelves of books. There's a few reference books that I haven't "read" because nobody sits down to read a CRC Handbook; a few textbooks I haven't read because they were aspirational purchases that are difficult to make time for; a dozen or so novels that will definitely get read in the next two years. If I don't like a novel enough to re-read it, it goes into a box, and gets returned to the next used bookstore I visit.

I've slowly been trying to work down the amount of stored paper, including books, in my house. I haven't moved in a long time but, earlier in my life, I definitely put way too much effort into moving books and other heavy things from place to place.

I recently dumped nearly all of my university papers and textbooks. That's one less solid box of tree that I need to lug from place to place only to forget about for half a decade at a time.

"It's not like they read all the books either"

Not sure how you would come to this conclusion without knowing every person with a book collection. I know quite a few bookphiles that have read every single book on every shelf.