A Bookshelf Is a Must

Regardless of how ‘into’ reading you are, a bookshelf is a must for everyone’s home, even if it is mostly for show and decoration purposes.

You might question why you should have a bookshelf, especially in this age of Kindle and digital media. But the reality is that no matter how paperless and fully digital we go, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone — friend, family, or even just an acquaintance — who doesn’t own a handful of physical books. There’s also you, who should definitely own some books if you’re browsing this website. If you don’t, then hurry up and buy some!

What Books Go on a Bookshelf?

When I say books, I do mean more for entertainment or enthusiast learning, such as novels and standard non-fiction. Old textbooks that just happen to be kicking around in the closet and cupboards should stay where they already are. Textbooks and magazines aren’t the sorts of things we’d typically put on a bookshelf at home, either (unless you are a collector or strong enthusiast about a particular topic).

The ‘Pro Bookshelf’ Argument

Let’s talk fiction, since that is what most people keep on their bookshelves. If you own more than a handful of novels, then it’s time to get a bookshelf. It’s the dignified and aesthetic way to safely store your books. Moreover, it keeps them all in one place, remains easy to organise, is a nice piece of decor, and also serves as a solid conversation starter if you have guests over (depending on the room and guest, of course).

Bookshelves are often associated with the sort we see in fancy libraries; tall, hulking masses of well-varnished wood that can hold a couple hundred books each. That’s not what most readers need. Lining the walls of your house does not make you any more of a reader than the person who buys a couple of novels each month — a reader is simply a reader.

A modest unit, or even just a shelf fixed to a wall, is still a bookshelf. The second you place some books in/on it, it automatically becomes a bookshelf. What is most important is not its overall size or look, but that it has a large enough capacity for your collection and serves as the most ideal, convenient place for storing all your literature.

Plenty of people, myself included, have done things like create a vertical stack of books on their desk, floor, bedside units, and wardrobe shelves. This is fine for someone with a relatively small collection, let’s say a dozen or less, but quickly becomes cumbersome and cluttered when multiple lofty stacks of books start to form. Sometimes it looks nice, in a messy-pretty way, but it’s still just clutter overflowing into spaces that should be used for other things.

Bookshelves are a must because they eradicate the need to dismantle or move these piles around, which means no risk of anything toppling over or your books becoming damaged from falling. You can argue that a bookshelf is a little less space efficient, but that depends on its size and where you place it. A wall-mounted one won’t be taking up any walkable or workable space, whereas your tower of books will be taking up some surface area of whatever they are placed upon.

The Takeaway

In short, you should respect yourself and your living space, as well as your growing collection of books. For the sake of a fairly affordable price, it’s time to go out and buy a bookshelf if you don’t already own one.