A Strange Sort of Product Review, Part I

This is actually "on topic."

...For me, anyway. I've been working for photography enthusiasts for something like 22 years now, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that many people have a particular slant to their interest—their own particular way of enjoying photography.

A big part of my own enjoyment, as regular readers know, is photo books. I don't buy a lot of them, but I've been interested in photographic books literally since I was a child (my earliest photographic education came from looking at thousands of American Civil War photographs, mostly in books). And, if you're interested in something consistently over enough years, objects accumulate.

(Pace Calvin Amari, below, I had a friend in Maryland who bought himself one nice photograph a year as a birthday present to himself. The collection was impressive when I knew him—I believe he had more than twenty prints at that time, including some by very big-name photographers—and that was seventeen years ago. If he kept going, the collection must be stunning by now—he had collected some photographers early on whose work has since appreciated into the stratosphere, and would be unobtainable by mere mortals now. He was definitely a mere mortal, who worked for county government for a living.)

Anyway, what I'm saying is that I have a lot of photography books.

That leads to an odd problem: shelving.

I don't know if you know this, but bookshelves are difficult to buy. Most furniture stores, even many good ones, even many big ones, hardly have anything in the way of bookshelves. Those that do usually mostly carry bookcases for people who don't like books—good for six feet of paperbacks. Some stores, when you ask for "bookshelves," will lead you to display cases with shelves made of glass—great for knicknacks, not good for actual books. The biggest bookcase I have at this moment came from an office supply store, and I believe I had it in my room when I was eleven.

That's not the only problem: Photo books tend to be oversize. Some are short but deep; some are thick and heavy; some are just plain big. One of the biggest books I have is Todd Hido's House Hunting, which is very close to 17 inches high. That's not even very big to some art and photography book collectors, but then again, it's the rare bookcase that can accommodate a 17-inch high book. 

The deepest book I have is 16 inches deep, which means it sticks out of the only oversize bookcase I have, which I bought (the bookcase, I mean) at Ikea in Maryland in maybe 1989 or '90. That one is 34 1/2 inches high by 33 1/2 inches high by 15 inches deep, outside dimensions. I intended to buy more of the same unit as finances allowed; but by the time I was ready to buy a second one, Ikea had discontinued them.

That case filled up about fourteen years ago, and has stayed that way ever since. Thus, it's of limited (read: no) use in dealing with new acquisitions.

Critical information
This year is about to be over, and I'm not ready. For one thing, longtime readers with good memories might recall that I shared some of my New Year's Resolutions for 2009—three, to be exact—not one of which I have managed to fulfill in the intervening 352 days. So, in an effort to squeak my #1 resolution (as I put it then: "Moar bookshelve") in under the wire before 2009 is over and 2010 gets here, I figured I might try to buy a bookcase for photo books before the year's out.

Here's the crucial, critical piece of information I discovered in 2009: unfinished furniture stores.

They're the place to get custom-made, real bookcases in the sizes you specify. You can choose your style, your size, the wood you want, the dimensions, and the finish; you can choose open style, or request doors.

So, today I bought a bookcase. It was very expensive by my (cheap!) standards. But I'm tired of having stacks of expensive photo books piled hither and yon in the nooks and crannies of my house.

Disgrace! This is no way to treat good photography books.

I intended to buy two, but decided on just one when I heard the (gulp) price.

The one I ordered is 36 inches wide. It has a deeper base that is 36" high and 18" deep—that's about 30" of usable space, which I'll divide into two shelves, one for books that are tall and wide and one for books that are short and wide (so-called "landscape format" books, which give 8- and 10-inch bookshelves fits). The 4-foot top section is 14" deep on the outside dimension, which itself is deep enough for many photo books. Both sections will have glass doors (my house is very dusty, and dust is very hard on books). It's made of oak. The shop is going to finish it and deliver it. It's supposed to take six to eight weeks.

I'll continue this "product review" when it gets here.

So that's it: one resolution down, at more or less the last minute.

I have a new resolution for 2010, and it's a biggie. It entails a major change for me, a fundamental change of emphasis for my photography. But I'll tell you about that when 2010 gets here.

Of course, I might not actually get to it in 2010.

I'm taking tomorrow off. See you sometime on Sunday. But remember my tip: if you're searching for high quality oversize bookshelves for photography books, unfinished furniture stores are the place to look.

Mike

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Featured Comment by Geoff Wittig: "About 15 years ago I was confronted with the problem of what to do with all my books, as they relentlessly accumulated in unsteady piles around the bedroom. 'Gotta do something about that, or I'm sleeping on the couch; I don't want to be crushed by a pile of falling books,' said my long-suffering wife. Coincidentally I found At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries, a coffee-table tome full of gorgeous photos of spectacular home libraries. Sort of 'interior design porn' for bibliophiles.

"This gave me big ideas, and I cast my greedy eyes on the large unfinished space above our garage. My wife rolled her eyes, sighed heavily, and said 'knock yourself out.' One of the advantages of living in the boondocks is ready access to cheap raw lumber and affordable skilled craftsmen. A carpenter we know filled the space with custom-designed bookshelves to conform to the gable-roofed shape. The shelves get deeper from ceiling to floor as the walls recede, accommodating larger books toward the bottom. The shelves themselves ride on adjustable metal tabs and can be placed at any height. Perfection! My wife extracted a promise that she had the right to divorce me once all the shelves were filled. Seemed entirely reasonable at the time.

"Unfortunately, that was 15 years ago. Since then, I've managed to fill every last nook & cranny of the copious shelving, and I'm back to tottering piles of my latest acquisitions scattered across the floor of my 'library.' Gotta get around to 'de-accessioning' a bunch of the less worthy books...real soon now. The 'divorce thing' so far I've managed to finesse by keeping the wife out of the room. But I think she suspects something."

Mike replies: Unfortunately, the overriding mandate with shelving is, "more." Shhh, though—I'm trying to delude myself that one 7x4' bookcase is going to be enough for me, just because it's enough for me now.

I've told this story before, but I'll tell it again. When I was young I worked as a carpenter, and one job I had was building bookshelves for my friend the bookseller William F. Hale in an apartment he'd rented across the street from his shop. He actually lived there for a while. We covered every available surface in shelving—every room, the halls (using nominal 6" lumber, for paperbacks), most of the bathroom, above the refrigerator, above the doorways. It wasn't long before you could barely get into the kitchen because of the stacks of books on the floor. Bill had to move out. No room for him.

When last heard from, Bill—who eventually married a woman who was also a bookseller—had acquired a large octagonal barn out in the country, fitted elaborately with shelving to hold some 80,000 books. Rumor has it that it has long since been filled to overflowing.

Featured Comment by Paul: "It's a brave man who posts a picture of his bookshelves! Obviously, you are a collector of discriminating tastes, as evidenced by Jim Marshall's Trust. I got a signed copy of that and have been enjoying it a little every day. For me, his work has more depth than what is mostly available now from the highly skilled, but over-produced work of professional rock photographers. Just my two cents' worth."

Comments

[Julian]

Coincidentally, I had this identical problem only a month or two ago. I solved it by returning to IKEA (note for pedants: it's an acronym so should be capitalised) with a tape measure and proceeded to go through their entire range before I settled on one of their 'Expedit' range, which was only just deep enough to house my largest book.

It was probably a lot cheaper than going the custom route but then I bet yours didn't come with barely intelligible instructions, isn't held together with wooden pegs and strangely-shaped pieces of metal and wasn't assembled with much swearing, mashed thumbs or back-tracking due to misreading assembly instructions!

It will probably last an awful lot longer, too!

And may I be the 2096th person to offer you best wishes for Christmas and a happy New Year. ;^)

[Janne]

Ikea has some deeper bookshelves as well, I believe.

Oh, a colleague of mine who also accumulates books (you tend to do it in our profession) actually called Ikea and asked about glass shelves. He was a bit worried when he realized they were bending a bit undere the weight.

They said the glass shelves are spec:ed to be as strong as or stronger than the wooden shelves. In either case the first point of failure is the connection points to the vertical sides, not the shelving itself.

[erlik]

One more problem with books is that they are heavy. As somebody who had to move more than once, I can attest that with lots of personal experience. :) (As a side note, the last time I moved, my then girlfriend suggested I discard the books. Eeeewwwwww.)

When you buy a bookshelf, you have to take that into account. Problem with the commercially available shelving is that it's usually not strong, so the shelves acquire a drooping belly after a while, particularly if they are deep. Putting a support under the middle of the shelf might solve the problem.

[Reinhard Pavicsics]

Hi Mike,
just to wet your appetite, here is a link to a german company that builds libraries for private houses. www.paschen.de/e2/e232/e233/index_eng.html As you can see from their website everything is possible, and you can order their products here in Austria in every big furniture store without problems. They are not cheap though, definitely not Ikea material :-). Unfortunately as far as I can see from their home page they have no store partners in the US, even though they sell to so "exotic" countries like Russia or Korea. But there must be comparable companies also in the US, or is there really no market for this kind of Products in the US, and one has to go to a carpenter tho have something custom built...

Reinhard

[Doug Howk]

The problem I have with freestanding bookshelves is amount of floor space they take up. In a previous home I did built-in shelves on 3 walls in my den, but all the furniture had to be against the remaining wall. I've switched to the do-it-yourself wall-hanging type starting about 4' from floor. I can now have furniture against all walls.

[misha]

Not a plug: my entire home is furnished from Ikea, and I have a bookshelf that holds photo books.

[Thingo]

I too, own a lot of books. My solution? Make my own bookshelves. I think after the first couple I made, the tools I had purchased were covered by the savings.

Of course that values my time at close to nought, but I do have some satisfaction in the construction.

The real trap is that after I assemble the shelves, and plonk a few books in place to check all is well, they rarely come off again -- so most of my shelves are not stained or painted.

[David]

For bookshelves, see Ikea

[Don Parsons]

Can I come over to your house and just read for a while?

[Geoff Wittig]

Gosh, and one more thing...
There's actually a really neat book on the subject of, well, bookshelves. It's Henry Petroski's The Book on the Bookshelf, a meandering exploration of the physical form of books and the various ways people have come to house and store them, from an engineering and social perspective. Petroski is sort of a curious polymath who has written previous books on the pencil (no, really; it's quite interesting), the toothpick, and design in general. He's sort of like Malcolm Gladwell, only with some humility. Fascinating stuff if you have too much time on your hands.

[37com]

I share your thoughts on bookshelves in general. I have lots of books on art and artists, coffee-table books on cities, etc., etc.

The need for fitting bookcases has actually turned me into an avid amateur carpenter. I decided to make my own bookcases quite a while back and have continued the craft by making desks, work-spaces and other furnitures... I now really enjoy working in my "shed" designing the various components and making them. It has a similar "zen-ish" feeling to me as back in the days I use to develop and print my own films.

[Mike Johnston]

"the last time I moved, my then girlfriend suggested I discard the books"

I can see why she is your then-girlfriend and not your now-girlfriend!!

Mike

[Rick]

Mike,

everything is now predicated on a "bookshelf" being just big enough to hold a Kindle or two. Paper is so 20th century. :)

[Jeffrey Goggin]

It could be worse: I have eight 7'x3' teak bookcases filled with LPs, which now live in my (necessarily) air-conditioned garage. It's going on two decades now since I last listened to most of them, but I can't yet bring myself to part with any of them...

[Mike Johnston]

"I have eight 7'x3' teak bookcases filled with LPs"

I knew I liked you. [g]

Mike

[COOP]

Expedit, from IKEA. I love those suckers - perfect size for books and vinyl LPs!

[Jim]

I'm not sure how long ago, as much as twenty years, maybe more, Larry McMurtry started buying the town of Archer City, near Wichita Falls, Texas to house the book selling business he was moving from Washington D.C. http://www.bookedupac.com/index.html
I spent two days a number of years ago with a friend, wandering from building to building. We had no particular books we were looking for, and if we had I dont know how we would have found them anyway! If was an experience you should treat yourself to sometime.If nothing else it will make you feel VERY ORGANIZED about your own bookshelves

[charlie]

(my house is very dusty, and dust is very hard on books).

I hear the houses they make today are much less dusty! ;-)

[Ken Tanaka]

When I first glanced at this piece I wondered how Mike got a snap of one of the shelves in my office! Yup, I've the same problem which I've resolved to remedy in 2010. I recently visited the home of a fairly distinguished photo book collector. Despite having countless volumes his home storage was pristinely neat and organized. It shamed me into taking control of my own collection.

[eric erickson]

I too have the same problem and what I discovered was the best bookcases where at the good office furniture stores. Not the Staples type store, but one that sells real office desks like the ones you find in law offices. They are well build and come in different finish and are fairly priced.

[Roger Bradbury]

@ Geoff Wittig: ""Unfortunately, that was 15 years ago. Since then, I've managed to fill every last nook & cranny of the copious shelving"

This also happens with sheds. Ten years ago I built a motorcycle shed so I could get all the stuff out of the box room and turn it into a darkroom (see, I'm on topic!) Eight years went by while I had a full box room and a full shed, then I cleared enough stuff out of the room that I could make it into a darkroom.

Now I have a shed that is approaching critical mass; it is nearly at the point where it would be easier to lock the door and walk away, to start again with a new shed.

The Ikea Billy bookcases are good. Sturdy and easy to build. You need to measure your books and then the Billy carefully; Like many companies' flat pack bookcases, the middle shelf is fixed for strength. It is easy to end up with a shelf you can't fit anything into.

[Andrea B.]

Wait for it....
it's coming...
it may already be happening somewhere:

A photographer selling mini-portfolios of their work
embedded in one of those electronic digital frames.....

no more messy book piles or sagging shelves !!
(....sigh....)

[Ed Kirkpatrick]

What about the old standby college dorm style shelves? 1x12's and cinder blocks? You could stack those anywhere! My current girlfriend would never put up with them though, so I will have to build real ones. Good project to draw up today - We are being blasted by a blizzard here in Maryland Mike! 20" so far and looking like a White Christmas for sure! Ed

[B Small]

I am using the Ikea Bruder system. It can be configured as required and can handle large loads. You do have to be into the industrial look though.

[James Liu]

When I was in college, I discovered a great used bookstore and then found out I wasn't spending any less on books, but I was on the cusp of blowing up my budget on bookshelves. Eventually I settled on bargaining for wood wine crates from wine stores, which are free to cheap, and fit almost anything height-wise. Depth is another story.

I keep meaning to purchase some real bookcases.

People in the Chicago area should check out 57th St Bookcases. They're actually located on the Northside and in Evanston. They'll make you any size you want. And if you're on 57th St, if you go south on Kimbark some into the alley, you might see a carpenter working in a garage full of bookcases. He's friendly, and he'll talk about your needs with you.

[Robert Minchin]

I got around the bookshelves problem by buying 'garage shelving' from Kmart. 20" deep and (unlike most 'bookshelves') solid enough to actually hold books without bending. Unfortunately, Kmart seem to have stopped selling these now, but I learned a valuable lesson: It's worth looking at other shelving units instead of just those that describe themselves as bookshelves.

[Mike Johnston]

A big problem with my situation is the dusty house. I've never lived in a house with dust before this one, and I don't know where it originates from (I suspect it's from loose insulation in the walls), but open bookshelves are a problem. The nice thing about shelving from unfinished furniture stores is that it can be ordered the way you need it, with solid doors or glass doors, doors just on the bottom, the whole unit the same depth or more depth in the bottom section, on and on. It's not custom-made, exactly, but you can specify it quite well within the given parameters you have to choose from.

At any rate I'll rest easier when I know my best books are protected from the dust. Dust is really bad for books. Some used bookstores that have dust problems hang plastic sheeting over each shelf, tacked to the shelf above it, but even though I'm not picky about decor I can't quite bring myself to do that.

Mike

[Joe]

I've been using black, open wire shelving units (35x16x72"), commonly seen in commercial kitchen/pantry/walk-in-cooler environments, in my photography workroom-office. To cover the wire shelves I've cut 8" wide, tongue-and-groove, 1/4" pre-finished flooring to the inside length, and glued two pieces together to fit the 16" depth. Less than $100/finished shelf unit from the big hardware stores. A little reconfiguration gets you a string of 3-foot high shelving to run under windows and display walls.

[Dave Polaschek]

Two solutions I've come up with:

Custom built (not cheap, but darned nice): http://www.flickr.com/photos/davepolaschek/3259073162/

And then there's Home Depot, which sells metal and wood shelves, 18 or 24 inches deep, by 4 feet wide, by 6 feet high for about 50 bucks. Ugly as sin, but they're designed to hold tools and car-parts, so they're plenty sturdy.

[Herman]

I solved my bookspace problem by buying a Lundia bookcase. Lovely thing it is.
I settled on Lundia because the old student library I used to help run had Lundia bookcases.
It was fairly expensive but worth it.

Swedish Pine with cherry finish, 12' wide by 4' high, 20" deep. In short I love the thing.
And when I run out of shelving I can just buy extra bits to make it larger. I am sure it'll cover the living room one day.
Also it is completely customisable, all the shelves are easily moved without tools. So even my big books fit neatly.

There is only one problem ... price.
Completely worth it, but slightly pricy.
(Mine (with rail, ladder, doors, things) had a list price of 3299 euros)

[Jeff]

Mike, you might want to consider a professional micro dust analysis to determine the source of the dust.

I have no idea what this might cost, but you could weigh this against the cost of damaged items and against the cost of dust prevention measures, which are numerous (a quick Google search revealed at least a dozen). Some of these causes may even be bad for your health, not just your books.

[Jonathan Lipkin]

I also build my own shelves. You can get a lumber yard to cut the plywood or mdf to size, then it's relatively easy to screw together. You can get as fancy as you want with the trim, or leave it quite simple. The advantage is that you get a shelf exactly the size you want.

[Paul Mc Cann]

Re Dust.

I once noticed a bookcase in a Victorian era print illustrating a solicitor's office. (Probably a scene from Dickens.) What caught my eye was a little curtain, bridging the gap between the top of the row of books and the underside if the shelf above. No more than 2-3" in drop. Designed to keep the dust off the top of the books no doubt. Victorian London was notoriously dusty and dirty what with all the coal fires they burned.

[charlie]

Oh, I now see you were serious. I assumed it a short commentary on housekeeping. I might call an HVAC service and see what is happening in those ducts.

Window and door seals are a source of course and steam clean fabric furniture and carpeting.

My cleaning lady always mentions our dogs as great sources of dust and dirt.

Hope you figure it out.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I've never had a girlfriend who was unfriendly to books. Most of them, in fact, have wanted to write, or are actually writing. The one I married (27 years in a few days now) has published 6 books so far. So I don't get much push-back on books. On the other hand, our book problem is fairly severe.