Bookcases

[kengr]

An idea that I had many years ago and have refined somewhat since.

"Modular" bookcases. I'm thinking something along the lines of 2' by 3'. They have a slot in the sides on the front, so you could slide a sheet of plywood/masonite/plexiglass in to keep the books from falling out while moving them.

Slot would be angled so you could slide the sheet in/out while the modules were assembled. With plexiglass or the like, that'd be a way to reduce dust, and keep books from getting messed with by small kids, but still see them to search for a book.

Size is intended so that you can just slide the sheet in and pick up the module without it being horribly heavy. Being books they are gonna be heavy regardless.

The original concept had them just stacking and maybe having keyed post/hole bits to hold them together. I've reconsidered that and they'd probably need a "frame" to attach to. This should be something that can be easily broken down *and* be capable of being fasten tto a wall (earthquakes and the like, y'know?).

Probably need at least to kinds of modules. One for standard paperbacks, and another for trade paperback and small hardcovers. Large hardcovers and "coffe table" books are a pain to deal with regardless. *sigh*

For those of use with *lots* of books, these would make life so much easier.

Oh yeah, another advantage of the "frame" would be that you could swap in/out modules without having to deal with the other modules.

This would be good for those of us who don't have room for all our books. Grab a module with stuff you've read thru recently . Go to the storage locker, grab a module with stuff you haven't read for a while and swap them.

Comments

[kengr]

Yeah, known-to-me problem. I've got a number of particle board bookcases.

The one set of brick & board shelves I have uses real boards.

And I've got a desk that is two 3 drawer file cabinets with a door blank across the top. *much* easier to move than a "real" desk.

Aside from the stud finding problems those board and bracket shelves have another one. a friend was living in a mutual friend's attic for a while and he made use of the exposed studs to set up that kind of shelving to put his comic collection on (no boxes just stacks of the various titles).

One night, a track failed and he wound up half-buried in comics (he was sleeping in a sleeping bag under the shelves).

And, of course, the main reason for my idea was to avoid having to move all the books from shelves to boxes and back again when moving.

Though the tracks might make a starting point for the "frame" to hold the modules...

[siliconshaman]

I'd go with 2mm aluminium panels, with enough of folded 'rim' to give it rigidity. Lightweight, and strong enough to survive anything.