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I have several libraries with different custom columns, but these are the columns I have in every library because they're so useful:
Path: A hierarchical column that I include in my Save to Disk template. Since I grew up with hierarchical file systems, I can't quite force myself to abandon them entirely. It allows me to use the tag browser to mimic the behavior of Windows Explorer. Most of my virtual libraries are based upon the top level of this hierarchy.
Title ID: Maybe I'm just OCD, but sometimes the built-in Title column just doesn't work for what I want to do, for example sorting or saving to disk. So I created a second title column to use as the file name in my Save to Disk template. Sometimes it's virtually identical to the Title column, but if the book is in a series, I usually begin the Title ID with the series index so that when I save the books out to disk, they're in order. The Path and Title ID columns complement each other, just like the folder and file name for a file on disk.
Subseries: A lot of book series are divided into two levels of series. I use the main Series column to store the major series, and the Subseries column to store the series-within-a-series.
OK: A yes/no column to keep track of whether the book's metadata is correct. I also have a "To Fix" virtual library based upon this column. When I import books, this column is not set, so they're automatically included in the virtual library. I'll then go through each book and clean up the metadata, then set the OK column to Yes. This way, I can keep track of which books I need to deal with. Other people accomplish much the same thing by using a separate intake library, but when you have several main libraries with different custom columns, having a duplicate of each structure is too unwieldy. A single custom column in each library works better for my work flow.
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