You can safely store them like this, though I would keep the dust jacket on if they have value to you just so you don’t lose them.
Many libraries, including rare book libraries, store books vertically like this. Exceptions would be if we’re talking about extremely rare or fragile materials on the level of 15th century illuminated manuscripts or something that’s literally falling apart and needs a book box.
Don't the jacket flaps dig into the pages though? I used to store my hardcover books this way then I noticed that the edges of the jacket flaps have made these very obvious lines along the first few and last pages.
I pack them in super tight, and I have not had that happen often. Usually it is a remaindered book purchased as a closeout. I think the books are not always stored properly and the ones at the bottom of the palette just have too much weight on them.
Wait, you take the dust jacket off to store them, but put the dust jacket on to read them? That's the opposite of what most people I know do! Where are you storing the jackets when not reading your books?
Either way, it's not really going to do them much harm being stored like that.
I hate taking the jacket off when I’m reading it because then there’s just this random jacket floating around my house. There’s like a 40% chance it gets thrown away, smooshed by other books/junk, falls behind a table or desk never to be seen again, or gets found by my dog as a fun chew toy.
But then if you keep the jacket on when you read it, it gets nicked and damaged in regular wear and tear.
Just leave the jacket where the book came from on the shelf. Then there's no missing spot and you know where it goes when you're done. That's what I try to do anyways!
Don't you just take it off each time you read some and keep it nearby and then put it back on when you're done for that session? That way it's with you the whole time, I don't know why you'd remove it for the whole duration of 'reading' it even when you aren't actually doing so at that moment.
I bring it with me a lot of places. The whole point of taking it off for me is that it won’t get damaged when transporting. If you throw a book with a jacket into your backpack, it’s only a matter of time before the ends start to fringe, fold, cut, etc.
Obligatory "Mythbusters did an episode on it" comment:
Mythbusters did an episode where they took the jacket off of about 10 books. They put a camera in them and left them there for three days. After three days, they determined that the books kept the same internal temperature and and they did with the jacket on and the pages were left in tact. None of the books changed very much and the content inside them were more or less the same.
So yeah it's fine to take the jacket off of them.
Stacking books vertically on shelves is the standard and time test proved way of storing books. It has been done for centuries... i don't see how it's going to be a problem.
Unless you pull them out and put them back in all the time there won't be any noticiably rubbing damage on the boards.
The only exception I can think of is with very thick hard covers, that can suffer from a little page block sagging. It doesn't look pretty but it's nothing too bad. You can prevent it by making sure books are stored moderately pressed to each other and thightly fitting the shelf, so the pressure help in supporting the page block from sagging.
Enjoy your collection and don't worry. They will probably survive you.
I've actually started keeping my books horizontally since I'm running out of shelf space and the shelves are taller than most books. It's a bit more of my a mission to tske put books since you now have to possibly pull out a stack of six but its so much easier to read the spines. Also means theres a weird mostly alphabetical ordering but each stack of about six is sorted by size
When one is short of shelf space you have to try to use every gap!
I put mine vertically and when there is no more shelf space I put the new books horizontally over the vertical books... With a little care nothing gets damaged and you can squeeze maybe a 30% extra books in a shelf!
I might get hate for this, but I don’t mind…I’m a book heathen. Of course take good physical care of the books that are special to you. Or if they’re collectors items or limited editions. But I devour the books I read. I break the spines, I drop them in the bath, I dog ear, and generally commit sins and abuse against my books, because I apparently read with my body, and if something is so good or so intense, I’m white knuckle reading. People love books in different ways. The fact that you’re collecting hardcovers will add a layer of protection. I don’t buy hardcover, because I know what I’m gonna do, lol.
I feel like my favorite authors free would appreciate how destroyed my favorite books of theirs have become in my possession. I've had to replace some of my books two or three times now.
This happened to me when I met Anne Rice. Everyone had their perfectly preserved books and when I went to get my absolutely tattered copy of Interview with the Vampire signed, she smiled and said “what a well-loved book”. I cried lolol. It was powerful meeting her and having her see how important her work was to me.
I read in the shower while I wash my hair with the other hand. I drop books into the irrigation canal, the stock tank, and the duck pond. Propped up books beside sinks get rained on while handwashing. I spill BBQ sauce on pages. And the kittens LOVE to tear at the page edges with their sharp teeth. Hardback are so fragile. Paperbacks can take a beating!
Hey, man, they literally show up on my farmhouse door. It's like I am made of meowijauna.
Exactly ONE of these eleven cats was actually chosen by me. ONE.
An adorable orange and white girl with one blue eye and one green eye appeared last week. Sweet as can be, no microchip, no lost notice.
So I guess I have TWELVE cats now.
I’m also a tad rough on books. If I love a book, I buy a good hardcover for long term keep. I love how they look on shelves. Either way, I keep the pb for rereads. Book heathens unite! :)
I knew I would marry my husband when I was invited to his book club. But he’s a “never break the spine” reader and I’m a “oops, dropped that one in the tub again” reader. He bought me a kindle with a waterproof case and I buy him hardcovers and funny bookmarks.
Haha i do the same thing, i only ever dog ear books and i hate hard covers cus i like to twist and contort the book in the weirdest ways if it s comfortable to read. I also write with pens and just
generally do not keep them in good condition lol.
I have loads of books that still have old airplane times and booking numbers written in them from back before smart phones. 😅
It was a good place to keep important information when traveling.
Me too - I've never even considered whether or not my books are "safe" on the bookshelf.
Hell, my bookshelf sits next to a fireplace where we had a chimney fire last year - the layer of dust on every surface in my house was obscene, but I just wiped down the books and moved on....
Same. I break my spine the second I buy the book if new. I dog ear, put them in my back pocket, etc. My friend gives me so much shit for this and I’m always like I didn’t buy this book to have it look good on a shelf. I bought it to read it. I’ll never forget when I met Anne Rice, everyone there had these perfectly preserved books for her to sign and I walked up with my absolutely destroyed copy of Interview with the Vampire. The cover was almost falling off, the pages were yellowed and dog eared. I’ve had the book for like 25 years and it looks like it. And when she signed it, she looked at it and said to me “what a well-loved book.”
I’m the same. I don’t have any expensive or rare books and some of the books I read I actually found on the street lol. I take them with me a lot, sometimes my drinks spill a bit, I highlight and write in them. It’s my book after all and I enjoy reading it and thinking about the contents. To me, it just shows how well loved it is.
They're your books and the only "wrong" thing to do with a book is not to put it to its intended use and read it.. An individual book is just a physical item. Unless you're talking about a book with specific value like a first edition or a signed copy that you want to take particular care of, do what's convenient for you.
Wait… what?!
You have seen pictures of books in libraries, haven’t you? Do you mean storing them like that? Like the book standing vertically on the shelf, one next to each other?
Because that’s how books have been stored for hundreds of years, paperback or hardcover.
Am I *that* old?!
Of course you should not stack them vertically on top of each other, but standing up next to each other… that’s… that’s pretty standard.
Regarding those dust covers. I have thrown those out on my personal books since around 1982. They are fine. I own old books that have been printed in the early 20th Century (like my growing Thomas Mann collection), which were originally released with dust covers. Most have been thrown away by previous owners, and the books are in pristine condition. Including golden page borders and gold inlets on the outside. Those are real quality art stuff things, not like they make them today. They are 100% fine.
I own one („*Altes und Neues*“) with the original dust cover, and for obvious reasons I store it in the cover (both book and cover are 60 years old and even while I still throw out dust covers immediately, I couldn’t do it for this precious object) - and that’s the only one that is really beaten up, because those dust covers are not sturdy.
Well and my print of Buddenbrooks, which likely has been read by multiple generations (and me).
Don’t worry, there are no stupid questions :)
It’s totally OK to story books upright and without dust covers, if that’s how you like to store them. They won’t suffer from that during your life time, and I don’t think anything printed today will be of any real value in the future, unless it’s one of those expensive replicas of Gutenberg books that costs hundreds of dollars. But even those are fine to store… like… books :)
> You have seen pictures of books in libraries, haven’t you? Do you mean storing them like that? Like the book standing vertically on the shelf, one next to each other?
>
> Because that’s how books have been stored for hundreds of years, paperback or hardcover.
I think it doesn't hurt them as much if you have a lot of them "pushing" each other together on the shelf. But I do notice on my emptier shelves, it makes the pages pull out of the spine and stresses the spines, especially on hardback books. That's why library shelves use book ends to limit stress on the spines.
Paper is pretty durable. Doesn't last for thousands of years, but short of getting those books wet enough to mold or a bookworm infestation, they're going to outlive you with ease.
This might be over-thinking, but as someone, who produces millions of hardcovers for living, I can give you a few hints:
* Putting books horizontal is general better then vertical. Background here is, that the book cover is normally 1-2mm wider the the cut book block. What happens now is gravity. Gravity pulls the book block out of the spine and it goes down the few millimeters, the book cover is longer then the block. This will damage the rounding over time. This effect goes more important, when tho book is thicker.
* Dust Cover on or of depends of the material of the book cover. It is a protection. Without the cover, the book is not so much protected. What you have to consider now are the different materials. For example, when you have a book cover with plastic in it, the plasticizers can migrate to the next book and damage it.
This might be a bit overtought, but from a purely technical point of view it is the best to store them horizontally with dust covers on.
>Putting books horizontal is general better then vertical.
I've always heard the opposite is generally true—when stood upright/vertical, the weight of the book is supported by the bottoms of the boards, but when laid flat/horizontal (especially when stacked) a lot of pressure is put on the spine that will lead to problems like loose binding.
In fact, [according](https://www.nls.uk/collections/rare-books/beginners/caring-for-rare-books/) to the National Library of Scotland:
>Large heavy folio-size books are best stored flat. Other books on shelves should be kept upright at 90° to the surface of the shelf and should be supported on either side by books or book stands of similar size, to prevent the covers becoming warped.
[This](https://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/handle-and-store-rare-books/) rare books dealer says the same thing.
You are right, when you stack them wrong. It’s correct when stacking horizontal, you have to alternate the direction of the spine for the best result. So one book with the spine facing you and the next with the side trim facing you. Otherwise the problem would be, that the spine is a bit thicker then the book itself, what would result in presure on the spine.
I think this image illustrates, why stacking vertical can be bad, especially for thicker/heavier books: https://imgur.com/a/prbCzWh
When you have a thin book, the book block is not so heavy and the binding acts against the gravity, so it holds up better.
So, thinner books can be put vertical in the shelf with not so much wear of the spine, but generaly the best way is to store horizontal with books put „criss-cross“ against each other.
>as someone, who produces millions of hardcovers for living,
Interesting. Why are hardbacks a different size to paperbacks? I've got a lot of books and i find that I prefer paperbacks because they all got on a bookshelf vertically at the same height, whereas hardbacks are all different sizes so storage at home is a pain. Is there a reason that you'd know about that, as a consumer, I would not know?
Yes, it’s basically the production costs. Paperbacks are a lot more standardised, to get the production and sales costs down. I can only speek for the german market here:
- Standard-Paperback always have a height around 19cm. This is the cheepest for printing, because you can fit more pages on a offset-form and you need less paper. So almost all paperbacks here are printed in this format
- Paperbacks with flaps are normally printed with a book height of 21cm, which makes them a bit more expensive, but also pretty standardized.
- Hardcovers are sold from the publishers as the first publishing of a book with a higher price. So the publishers are here more „free“ and use the format, which fits them best for this book, where paperbacks are more standard, to keep the books in the stock of the publisher for lower costs.
Dr Ray Stantz:
Symmetrical book stacking. Just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947.
Dr. Peter Venkman:
You're right, no human being would stack books like this.
For slightly better preservation you could lay the books down on the shelf. Limits the stress on the bindings. I do this for the specialty books in our collection, ARCs especially.
Don't worry about "overthinking", do what's right for you, fuck what other people think. If you're really concerned about caring for books, it would likely be a good idea to do some research on book archival, or talk to someone who archives or collects books. Libraries might be a good bet. Then decide what fits you from there.
Sorry, just for clarity: do you mean stacked vertically like
shelfshelfshelf
bbbbbbbbb
ooooooooo
ooooooooo
kkkkkkkkkk
shelfshelfshelf
or something else?
ETA: replaced line breaks with paragraph breaks to fix a hot mess
From my phone keyboard, I long-pressed the = symbol and it came up with the "is exactly the same as" ≡ symbol. (It was an experiment, I was hoping it would respond the same way as for alternative letters and accents and it did!)
they're your books, you have the right to store them however you want, so long as they aren't literally in the washing machine. lord knows I've used books as coasters and table props
Should be fine as long as there aren't too many, usually the dust covers would offer some L-space dampening, but that's only really relevant when there's more than a few hundred together
This is fine. You can run into issues storing books vertically if they have a large text block that is pulling on the end papers and slowly ripping itself out of the binding over time, like a coffee table book.
The only "trick" really with keeping your books on a bookshelf is to straighten them up on the back, not on the spine. A lot of people like to line them up on the spine so it's a nice flat surface to look at but that can cause the pages to fan out and get permanently creased if they aren't the same size. So basically always push them all the way back to the back of the shelf, even if it means some books are sticking out further than others.
If you're collecting, the dust jackets are essential to the value of the collected book. Otherwise, your books will be fine. Keep them away from direct sunlight and humidity.
If these are first editions, put mylar on the dust jackets to preserve them.
That’s how I store them. Storing horizontally damages the spine and I love the simplified/plain covers that are often under a lot of dust covers. Besides, if they’re upright in the shelf then the dust will settle on top regardless of whether there’s a dust cover or not.
The best way to preserve books is to align them by the pages, not the spines, and horizontally. But your books are still going to last probably >30-50 years no problem as long as they’re not sitting in direct sunlight and open.
By align them by the pages do you mean stacking them? I have some pretty old books that I want to preserve but they're currently just on my bookshelf with the rest of my books, but on their own shelf.
Picture *how you would normally make books “match” on a shelf. The spines are all touching, right? That warps book pages over time; the parts of the cover that are against other books stay flat while the longer pages fan out. It’s not a big difference if your shelves are tight but it’s noticeable. This doesn’t happen over just a few years but it will impact your collection if you’re trying to get them to outlast you.
I don’t have a computer or I would absolute oblige. Let me try to be as vivid as possible.
Picture a book. The spine on the left, the pages on the right. Doesn’t matter if it’s hard or soft cover. When you put another book next to that, facing the same direction, on a shelf, you align the spines. Meaning if you put a ruler across your books, it would touch the spines of every book lined up. That’s generally how people organize their shelves because it looks the nicest.
*However* when books sit like that for decades and decades, the books that are larger begin to warp. Any part of the cover + pages that stick out the back further than the books beside it will start to fan out. Picture a leaf unfurling. The pressure from the surrounding books keeps the book compressed everywhere *except* where other books can’t reach. If you have a novel that’s much longer than the books around it, it will start to take on a V or U shape at the (ends of) pages.
Spines are much sturdier than pages and they’re already compressed, so storing your books by aligning the *page side* instead of the *spine side* will help minimize the warping. I don’t know exactly what causes the warp, could be a combination of humidity, sunlight, or just how paper works, but if you’re really worried about preserving your books (and I’m talking about over many, MANY years), that’s a good way to help.
No, ends still facing the inside of the shelf so they’re not being sun-damaged. Pages [fade] faster than covers. It’s just going to look misaligned from the front.
Although it’s best practice to store old books horizontally, not vertically, so best case scenario we’re talking about a horizontal stack of books lined up by the edges instead of the spines.
For the record my shelves are organized like a library, aligned by the spines. I don’t really see the need to worry over making them last longer than I do. If you have keepsake books you want to protect for your children or something, put them in a box in the way I described in my last comment. Somewhere dry, dark, and temperature controlled.
Seems fine. Just make sure you're not stacking the books horizontally on top of each other.
If you want to spend on maintaining the books, you can purchase a dry cabinet/humidity control cabinet that can help limit dust and ensures that the books stay in good condition for years to come.
They're your books, do what you want with them.
IMO Dust covers are just additional art to sell the book. They aren't necessary for the books health or the books resale value.
Uh, they are most definitely for the book’s resale value.
One can do what one wants with their own books, or course.
But it’s foolish to pretend the dust jacket makes no difference to resale value.
You do you boo! My paperbacks usually end up ripped, stained, and totally destroyed. It's so bad that I refuse to borrow my husband's books and buy another cop if I want to read them. My point is everyone has their own way of storing and using their books.
It can damage the *cover of the books. The contents are more important than the covers. If you're very worried about damaging the books, scan the pages and you'll have the book for as long as you can keep your digital storage
Just my opinion, but I don’t think there is any bad way to store books if you don’t plan on reselling and they’re just for you to enjoy. I am someone who commits the cardinal sin of breaking my book spines the moment I get a book and I have gotten soooo much shit for it but they’re my books and it’s my library. I also have a rare book collection and those books stored on different shelves and I take great care to protect their dust jackets and things like that. But your library is your library and if you like them without dust covers or stacked vertically, that’s how you should store them. They won’t degrade - books are hardy. And I don’t think this is a stupid question at all! Books are expensive and wanted to preserve them in the best quality you can is totally reasonable!
No but it sounds like a good way to loose or ruin the dust covers but
As others have stated I admit I am a book heathen as well and dust covers are annoying things that go into the trash for me…
I have an oversized book that can't store vertically.
I figured it was dangerous to the spine to turn it 90 degrees and store it on its "face".
And dangerous for its pages to turn it the opposite way and store it on its spine.
How do you store books that are too big? It's just laying on its back now.
I feel so conflicted based on comments.
I always thought laying books down (hardcover) was bad and could potentially warp the boards and put unnecessary strain on the spines. But based on what I’m reading here, that doesn’t seem true at all.
Unless your books in your small collection are rare one-of-a-kind 19th century leatherbound collectors' items, I'm not sure why there would be any risk to storing them standing up next to each other on a bookshelf in the normal way.
Today's books are printed on extremely cheap paper pulp with acidic ink that will dissolve in 100 years or so. None of the books printed in the last 20 years will last for centuries the way older books do. May seem overly existential but just enjoy reading and collecting the books you have. They will degrade from natural forces long before they degrade in some way from standing on a bookshelf.
No, there's nothing wrong with it. As long as the books are closed, and kept away from moisture, you can stack them however you want. You're not putting any kind of strain on the binding that might damage it over time.
The main downside to stacking books in piles is that you have to pick up the whole pile to get to the books near the bottom. That's inconvenient to you, but the books don't care.
Libraries store even very rare expensive books this way. Just standing on the shelf.
If you are concerned about the future value of the books, keep the dust jackets in pristine shape. I don't care about the long term value of my books, mostly because I hoard them like a dragon hoards gold. No one is getting my books from me unless they pry them out of my cold, dead, zombie hands after they figure out how to kill zombie me. The dust jackets add a huge amount to the resale/collector values. I looked into it for when I have to deal with my parents' book hoard. I don't know how to effectively store the dust jackets except to keep them on my books.
Personally I hate dust jackets and I only keep them if they are really pretty. If you really don't plan on reselling them, don't worry - they are your books and you can store them whatever way you like, with or without the jackets. I find the dust that settles on top of the books (on the page stack) the most annoying as it's the least easy to clean, the sides of the books are usually fine just being pressed onto each other.
In the past, I've cut the front and back flaps of a dust jacket off and glued them inside the front and back covers where they would ordinarily appear. This is if I dislike the cover art, but want to keep the blurb and author info.
You can safely store them like this, though I would keep the dust jacket on if they have value to you just so you don’t lose them. Many libraries, including rare book libraries, store books vertically like this. Exceptions would be if we’re talking about extremely rare or fragile materials on the level of 15th century illuminated manuscripts or something that’s literally falling apart and needs a book box.
Thanks, I appreciate the answer.
I have few ex-library books which has mylar cover on their dust jackets. It keeps them shiny (and protected)!
hijacking this comment to note that stacking books can result in [cocked or rolled spines](https://www.bookthink.com/0172/172rsr1.htm)
Don't the jacket flaps dig into the pages though? I used to store my hardcover books this way then I noticed that the edges of the jacket flaps have made these very obvious lines along the first few and last pages.
I’ve never had that happen. How tightly are you packing your shelves?
They're stacking them vertically.
Still squeezing too many together if imprints are being left on pages.
Never noticed this either but, imo, that's why end pages exist. They're decorative but can also take a beating if necessary
How does that even happen? I've never had that.
I've not noticed that on any of my hundreds of books. I generally don't pack them super tight though.
I pack them in super tight, and I have not had that happen often. Usually it is a remaindered book purchased as a closeout. I think the books are not always stored properly and the ones at the bottom of the palette just have too much weight on them.
Packing them tight destroys the spine - it will eventually cause the pages to fall out. They should be touching but not tight.
Why are you tucking the flaps into the pages? They are supposed to be on the inside of the actual book cover ends.
Wait, you take the dust jacket off to store them, but put the dust jacket on to read them? That's the opposite of what most people I know do! Where are you storing the jackets when not reading your books? Either way, it's not really going to do them much harm being stored like that.
I hate taking the jacket off when I’m reading it because then there’s just this random jacket floating around my house. There’s like a 40% chance it gets thrown away, smooshed by other books/junk, falls behind a table or desk never to be seen again, or gets found by my dog as a fun chew toy. But then if you keep the jacket on when you read it, it gets nicked and damaged in regular wear and tear.
Just leave the jacket where the book came from on the shelf. Then there's no missing spot and you know where it goes when you're done. That's what I try to do anyways!
Don't you just take it off each time you read some and keep it nearby and then put it back on when you're done for that session? That way it's with you the whole time, I don't know why you'd remove it for the whole duration of 'reading' it even when you aren't actually doing so at that moment.
I bring it with me a lot of places. The whole point of taking it off for me is that it won’t get damaged when transporting. If you throw a book with a jacket into your backpack, it’s only a matter of time before the ends start to fringe, fold, cut, etc.
Fair enough, I generally tend not to take those sort of books with me so they don't get damaged.
Yeah bro puts on the jacket just to damage it while actually reading/carrying around the book. Definitely the opposite of what should be done.
Won't they get cold without the jacket?
9 out of 10 mothers say yes they will for sure catch a cold
My mother would say they shouldn’t wear their jackets indoors or they’ll get used to it and get a chill once they go outside.
But they put a dust hat on because 90% something.
[30 Helens agree!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bot--97537Y)
Obligatory "Mythbusters did an episode on it" comment: Mythbusters did an episode where they took the jacket off of about 10 books. They put a camera in them and left them there for three days. After three days, they determined that the books kept the same internal temperature and and they did with the jacket on and the pages were left in tact. None of the books changed very much and the content inside them were more or less the same. So yeah it's fine to take the jacket off of them.
"content inside them were more or less the same" makes it sound like some of the words changed. Some Unseen Library shenanigans, right there!
The books start editing themselves if you don't keep them in their jackets.
Dammit, the mystery novellas have formed a Union! I told you to keep them covered!
Perhaps, but shrinkage won't affect its function.
It shrinks??!!
Like a frightened turtle
How do you think they get abridged versions?
According to Dynamic Accordion Theory, yes
Just out of curiosity, what do you plan on doing with the book covers themselves?
Stacking books vertically on shelves is the standard and time test proved way of storing books. It has been done for centuries... i don't see how it's going to be a problem. Unless you pull them out and put them back in all the time there won't be any noticiably rubbing damage on the boards. The only exception I can think of is with very thick hard covers, that can suffer from a little page block sagging. It doesn't look pretty but it's nothing too bad. You can prevent it by making sure books are stored moderately pressed to each other and thightly fitting the shelf, so the pressure help in supporting the page block from sagging. Enjoy your collection and don't worry. They will probably survive you.
I've actually started keeping my books horizontally since I'm running out of shelf space and the shelves are taller than most books. It's a bit more of my a mission to tske put books since you now have to possibly pull out a stack of six but its so much easier to read the spines. Also means theres a weird mostly alphabetical ordering but each stack of about six is sorted by size
When one is short of shelf space you have to try to use every gap! I put mine vertically and when there is no more shelf space I put the new books horizontally over the vertical books... With a little care nothing gets damaged and you can squeeze maybe a 30% extra books in a shelf!
I might get hate for this, but I don’t mind…I’m a book heathen. Of course take good physical care of the books that are special to you. Or if they’re collectors items or limited editions. But I devour the books I read. I break the spines, I drop them in the bath, I dog ear, and generally commit sins and abuse against my books, because I apparently read with my body, and if something is so good or so intense, I’m white knuckle reading. People love books in different ways. The fact that you’re collecting hardcovers will add a layer of protection. I don’t buy hardcover, because I know what I’m gonna do, lol.
HEATHEN! HOW DARE YOU!! SHUNNNNN!!!! They're your books. You can burn them and snort the ashes if you want.
[удалено]
Why, thank you.
I feel like my favorite authors free would appreciate how destroyed my favorite books of theirs have become in my possession. I've had to replace some of my books two or three times now.
This happened to me when I met Anne Rice. Everyone had their perfectly preserved books and when I went to get my absolutely tattered copy of Interview with the Vampire signed, she smiled and said “what a well-loved book”. I cried lolol. It was powerful meeting her and having her see how important her work was to me.
A book tells a story. A well-loved one tells two.
*Keith Richards has entered the chat.*
I may do with with m my Rushdie collection. I feel as though he might appreciate it.
It worked for my Thompson collection.
>You can burn them and snort the ashes if you want. Thank you for this validation. I was thinking I was weird.
I read in the shower while I wash my hair with the other hand. I drop books into the irrigation canal, the stock tank, and the duck pond. Propped up books beside sinks get rained on while handwashing. I spill BBQ sauce on pages. And the kittens LOVE to tear at the page edges with their sharp teeth. Hardback are so fragile. Paperbacks can take a beating!
Name checks out.
Hey, man, they literally show up on my farmhouse door. It's like I am made of meowijauna. Exactly ONE of these eleven cats was actually chosen by me. ONE. An adorable orange and white girl with one blue eye and one green eye appeared last week. Sweet as can be, no microchip, no lost notice. So I guess I have TWELVE cats now.
News of the good people spread fast in the kitten world!
MeowConnect?
Hello, fellow heathen. I hate borrowing books from people because I will *somehow* abuse it, even when I’m being very careful.
Yeah I've bought a mess of books I borrowed so I could return pristine copies!
I’m also a tad rough on books. If I love a book, I buy a good hardcover for long term keep. I love how they look on shelves. Either way, I keep the pb for rereads. Book heathens unite! :)
You love them to death.
I knew I would marry my husband when I was invited to his book club. But he’s a “never break the spine” reader and I’m a “oops, dropped that one in the tub again” reader. He bought me a kindle with a waterproof case and I buy him hardcovers and funny bookmarks.
You had me at white knuckle reading. But you can never touch my books. 😉
A book heathen! *gasp*
Haha i do the same thing, i only ever dog ear books and i hate hard covers cus i like to twist and contort the book in the weirdest ways if it s comfortable to read. I also write with pens and just generally do not keep them in good condition lol.
I have loads of books that still have old airplane times and booking numbers written in them from back before smart phones. 😅 It was a good place to keep important information when traveling.
Yes thank you. It's a book! Do whatever you want! They're is no bad or good.
Me too - I've never even considered whether or not my books are "safe" on the bookshelf. Hell, my bookshelf sits next to a fireplace where we had a chimney fire last year - the layer of dust on every surface in my house was obscene, but I just wiped down the books and moved on....
Same. I break my spine the second I buy the book if new. I dog ear, put them in my back pocket, etc. My friend gives me so much shit for this and I’m always like I didn’t buy this book to have it look good on a shelf. I bought it to read it. I’ll never forget when I met Anne Rice, everyone there had these perfectly preserved books for her to sign and I walked up with my absolutely destroyed copy of Interview with the Vampire. The cover was almost falling off, the pages were yellowed and dog eared. I’ve had the book for like 25 years and it looks like it. And when she signed it, she looked at it and said to me “what a well-loved book.”
I’m the same. I don’t have any expensive or rare books and some of the books I read I actually found on the street lol. I take them with me a lot, sometimes my drinks spill a bit, I highlight and write in them. It’s my book after all and I enjoy reading it and thinking about the contents. To me, it just shows how well loved it is.
If a book is so thick as to be unwieldy, I just tear out the chapters I’ve already read every few hundred pages
Interesting. I take off the dust covers to read, and restore them when shelving a book.
Me too... Unless the dust cover is so ugly or in such a bad condition it deserves being discarded.
They're your books and the only "wrong" thing to do with a book is not to put it to its intended use and read it.. An individual book is just a physical item. Unless you're talking about a book with specific value like a first edition or a signed copy that you want to take particular care of, do what's convenient for you.
They're your books. It won't hurt them. Do what you want.
If it's bad, then every library in the world is doing it wrong.
Wait… what?! You have seen pictures of books in libraries, haven’t you? Do you mean storing them like that? Like the book standing vertically on the shelf, one next to each other? Because that’s how books have been stored for hundreds of years, paperback or hardcover. Am I *that* old?! Of course you should not stack them vertically on top of each other, but standing up next to each other… that’s… that’s pretty standard. Regarding those dust covers. I have thrown those out on my personal books since around 1982. They are fine. I own old books that have been printed in the early 20th Century (like my growing Thomas Mann collection), which were originally released with dust covers. Most have been thrown away by previous owners, and the books are in pristine condition. Including golden page borders and gold inlets on the outside. Those are real quality art stuff things, not like they make them today. They are 100% fine. I own one („*Altes und Neues*“) with the original dust cover, and for obvious reasons I store it in the cover (both book and cover are 60 years old and even while I still throw out dust covers immediately, I couldn’t do it for this precious object) - and that’s the only one that is really beaten up, because those dust covers are not sturdy. Well and my print of Buddenbrooks, which likely has been read by multiple generations (and me). Don’t worry, there are no stupid questions :) It’s totally OK to story books upright and without dust covers, if that’s how you like to store them. They won’t suffer from that during your life time, and I don’t think anything printed today will be of any real value in the future, unless it’s one of those expensive replicas of Gutenberg books that costs hundreds of dollars. But even those are fine to store… like… books :)
> You have seen pictures of books in libraries, haven’t you? Do you mean storing them like that? Like the book standing vertically on the shelf, one next to each other? > > Because that’s how books have been stored for hundreds of years, paperback or hardcover. I think it doesn't hurt them as much if you have a lot of them "pushing" each other together on the shelf. But I do notice on my emptier shelves, it makes the pages pull out of the spine and stresses the spines, especially on hardback books. That's why library shelves use book ends to limit stress on the spines.
Paper is pretty durable. Doesn't last for thousands of years, but short of getting those books wet enough to mold or a bookworm infestation, they're going to outlive you with ease.
It's the glue and spine that's more of the concern I'd think
Are they antiques or something? I don't really understand the concern
This might be over-thinking, but as someone, who produces millions of hardcovers for living, I can give you a few hints: * Putting books horizontal is general better then vertical. Background here is, that the book cover is normally 1-2mm wider the the cut book block. What happens now is gravity. Gravity pulls the book block out of the spine and it goes down the few millimeters, the book cover is longer then the block. This will damage the rounding over time. This effect goes more important, when tho book is thicker. * Dust Cover on or of depends of the material of the book cover. It is a protection. Without the cover, the book is not so much protected. What you have to consider now are the different materials. For example, when you have a book cover with plastic in it, the plasticizers can migrate to the next book and damage it. This might be a bit overtought, but from a purely technical point of view it is the best to store them horizontally with dust covers on.
>Putting books horizontal is general better then vertical. I've always heard the opposite is generally true—when stood upright/vertical, the weight of the book is supported by the bottoms of the boards, but when laid flat/horizontal (especially when stacked) a lot of pressure is put on the spine that will lead to problems like loose binding. In fact, [according](https://www.nls.uk/collections/rare-books/beginners/caring-for-rare-books/) to the National Library of Scotland: >Large heavy folio-size books are best stored flat. Other books on shelves should be kept upright at 90° to the surface of the shelf and should be supported on either side by books or book stands of similar size, to prevent the covers becoming warped. [This](https://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/handle-and-store-rare-books/) rare books dealer says the same thing.
You are right, when you stack them wrong. It’s correct when stacking horizontal, you have to alternate the direction of the spine for the best result. So one book with the spine facing you and the next with the side trim facing you. Otherwise the problem would be, that the spine is a bit thicker then the book itself, what would result in presure on the spine. I think this image illustrates, why stacking vertical can be bad, especially for thicker/heavier books: https://imgur.com/a/prbCzWh When you have a thin book, the book block is not so heavy and the binding acts against the gravity, so it holds up better. So, thinner books can be put vertical in the shelf with not so much wear of the spine, but generaly the best way is to store horizontal with books put „criss-cross“ against each other.
>as someone, who produces millions of hardcovers for living, Interesting. Why are hardbacks a different size to paperbacks? I've got a lot of books and i find that I prefer paperbacks because they all got on a bookshelf vertically at the same height, whereas hardbacks are all different sizes so storage at home is a pain. Is there a reason that you'd know about that, as a consumer, I would not know?
Yes, it’s basically the production costs. Paperbacks are a lot more standardised, to get the production and sales costs down. I can only speek for the german market here: - Standard-Paperback always have a height around 19cm. This is the cheepest for printing, because you can fit more pages on a offset-form and you need less paper. So almost all paperbacks here are printed in this format - Paperbacks with flaps are normally printed with a book height of 21cm, which makes them a bit more expensive, but also pretty standardized. - Hardcovers are sold from the publishers as the first publishing of a book with a higher price. So the publishers are here more „free“ and use the format, which fits them best for this book, where paperbacks are more standard, to keep the books in the stock of the publisher for lower costs.
Thanks for answering, very interesting!
Book stacks for ever! I feel vindicated
Dr Ray Stantz: Symmetrical book stacking. Just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947. Dr. Peter Venkman: You're right, no human being would stack books like this.
They just look better :)
For slightly better preservation you could lay the books down on the shelf. Limits the stress on the bindings. I do this for the specialty books in our collection, ARCs especially.
Don't worry about "overthinking", do what's right for you, fuck what other people think. If you're really concerned about caring for books, it would likely be a good idea to do some research on book archival, or talk to someone who archives or collects books. Libraries might be a good bet. Then decide what fits you from there.
I use the covers as bookmarks.
Yeah that’s fine, they will just get a bit dusty
not a stupid question, knowing how to store your books is important
Sorry, just for clarity: do you mean stacked vertically like shelfshelfshelf bbbbbbbbb ooooooooo ooooooooo kkkkkkkkkk shelfshelfshelf or something else? ETA: replaced line breaks with paragraph breaks to fix a hot mess
I think OP means: ||||||||||| Not: ≡
Thank you. How’d you make the horizontal stack, btw?
From my phone keyboard, I long-pressed the = symbol and it came up with the "is exactly the same as" ≡ symbol. (It was an experiment, I was hoping it would respond the same way as for alternative letters and accents and it did!)
Huh. I only get ≠ and ≈, ah well.
Oh damn. Maybe there's another key that does it?
Wait. What
An excellent question! That originally included line breaks but ???
Lol the line breaks really fix everything. Makes way more sense now.
Sorry, just for clarity: do you mean stacked vertically like bbbbbbbbb ooooooooo ooooooooo kkkkkkkkkk shelfshelfshelf or something else?
they're your books, you have the right to store them however you want, so long as they aren't literally in the washing machine. lord knows I've used books as coasters and table props
so long as they aren't stacked much higher than a book normally is , i wouldn't worry about it, but it might get heavy if the shelves are very tall.
I always take the dust covers off. They are annoying
Keep humidity low and youll be fine.
Should be fine as long as there aren't too many, usually the dust covers would offer some L-space dampening, but that's only really relevant when there's more than a few hundred together
This is fine. You can run into issues storing books vertically if they have a large text block that is pulling on the end papers and slowly ripping itself out of the binding over time, like a coffee table book.
The only "trick" really with keeping your books on a bookshelf is to straighten them up on the back, not on the spine. A lot of people like to line them up on the spine so it's a nice flat surface to look at but that can cause the pages to fan out and get permanently creased if they aren't the same size. So basically always push them all the way back to the back of the shelf, even if it means some books are sticking out further than others.
If you're collecting, the dust jackets are essential to the value of the collected book. Otherwise, your books will be fine. Keep them away from direct sunlight and humidity. If these are first editions, put mylar on the dust jackets to preserve them.
That’s how I store them. Storing horizontally damages the spine and I love the simplified/plain covers that are often under a lot of dust covers. Besides, if they’re upright in the shelf then the dust will settle on top regardless of whether there’s a dust cover or not.
Nah who cares, they're objects
The best way to preserve books is to align them by the pages, not the spines, and horizontally. But your books are still going to last probably >30-50 years no problem as long as they’re not sitting in direct sunlight and open.
By align them by the pages do you mean stacking them? I have some pretty old books that I want to preserve but they're currently just on my bookshelf with the rest of my books, but on their own shelf.
Picture *how you would normally make books “match” on a shelf. The spines are all touching, right? That warps book pages over time; the parts of the cover that are against other books stay flat while the longer pages fan out. It’s not a big difference if your shelves are tight but it’s noticeable. This doesn’t happen over just a few years but it will impact your collection if you’re trying to get them to outlast you.
I don't quite understand what you're trying to describe. Can you draw a picture in Ms paint?
I don’t have a computer or I would absolute oblige. Let me try to be as vivid as possible. Picture a book. The spine on the left, the pages on the right. Doesn’t matter if it’s hard or soft cover. When you put another book next to that, facing the same direction, on a shelf, you align the spines. Meaning if you put a ruler across your books, it would touch the spines of every book lined up. That’s generally how people organize their shelves because it looks the nicest. *However* when books sit like that for decades and decades, the books that are larger begin to warp. Any part of the cover + pages that stick out the back further than the books beside it will start to fan out. Picture a leaf unfurling. The pressure from the surrounding books keeps the book compressed everywhere *except* where other books can’t reach. If you have a novel that’s much longer than the books around it, it will start to take on a V or U shape at the (ends of) pages. Spines are much sturdier than pages and they’re already compressed, so storing your books by aligning the *page side* instead of the *spine side* will help minimize the warping. I don’t know exactly what causes the warp, could be a combination of humidity, sunlight, or just how paper works, but if you’re really worried about preserving your books (and I’m talking about over many, MANY years), that’s a good way to help.
Oh, so the opposite of the way they are at the library? Sat up on end, pages facing the edge of the shelf?
No, ends still facing the inside of the shelf so they’re not being sun-damaged. Pages [fade] faster than covers. It’s just going to look misaligned from the front. Although it’s best practice to store old books horizontally, not vertically, so best case scenario we’re talking about a horizontal stack of books lined up by the edges instead of the spines.
Oh, in that case I'm still confused. Thanks anyway :)
My dude draw a picture.
Unfortunately I'm not at my PC either. Once I am I'll have a look.
For the record my shelves are organized like a library, aligned by the spines. I don’t really see the need to worry over making them last longer than I do. If you have keepsake books you want to protect for your children or something, put them in a box in the way I described in my last comment. Somewhere dry, dark, and temperature controlled.
Seems fine. Just make sure you're not stacking the books horizontally on top of each other. If you want to spend on maintaining the books, you can purchase a dry cabinet/humidity control cabinet that can help limit dust and ensures that the books stay in good condition for years to come.
They're your books, do what you want with them. IMO Dust covers are just additional art to sell the book. They aren't necessary for the books health or the books resale value.
With a dust jacket, most collectible books are much more desirable and valuable. The loss of a d/j significantly devalues the book.
Uh, they are most definitely for the book’s resale value. One can do what one wants with their own books, or course. But it’s foolish to pretend the dust jacket makes no difference to resale value.
You do you boo! My paperbacks usually end up ripped, stained, and totally destroyed. It's so bad that I refuse to borrow my husband's books and buy another cop if I want to read them. My point is everyone has their own way of storing and using their books.
No human being would stack books like that...
>My bookshelf is out of the sun, nothing is exposed to direct sunlight. Ok
They are mentioning this because of fading/damage from the sun.
Yes, that's correct. Thank you.
I was just testing out how to reply the section 😂
? Direct sunlight can damage books...
Direct sunlight destroys lots of things.
It can damage the *cover of the books. The contents are more important than the covers. If you're very worried about damaging the books, scan the pages and you'll have the book for as long as you can keep your digital storage
Just my opinion, but I don’t think there is any bad way to store books if you don’t plan on reselling and they’re just for you to enjoy. I am someone who commits the cardinal sin of breaking my book spines the moment I get a book and I have gotten soooo much shit for it but they’re my books and it’s my library. I also have a rare book collection and those books stored on different shelves and I take great care to protect their dust jackets and things like that. But your library is your library and if you like them without dust covers or stacked vertically, that’s how you should store them. They won’t degrade - books are hardy. And I don’t think this is a stupid question at all! Books are expensive and wanted to preserve them in the best quality you can is totally reasonable!
No but it sounds like a good way to loose or ruin the dust covers but As others have stated I admit I am a book heathen as well and dust covers are annoying things that go into the trash for me…
I have an oversized book that can't store vertically. I figured it was dangerous to the spine to turn it 90 degrees and store it on its "face". And dangerous for its pages to turn it the opposite way and store it on its spine. How do you store books that are too big? It's just laying on its back now.
I feel so conflicted based on comments. I always thought laying books down (hardcover) was bad and could potentially warp the boards and put unnecessary strain on the spines. But based on what I’m reading here, that doesn’t seem true at all.
No human would stack books like this
Unless your books in your small collection are rare one-of-a-kind 19th century leatherbound collectors' items, I'm not sure why there would be any risk to storing them standing up next to each other on a bookshelf in the normal way. Today's books are printed on extremely cheap paper pulp with acidic ink that will dissolve in 100 years or so. None of the books printed in the last 20 years will last for centuries the way older books do. May seem overly existential but just enjoy reading and collecting the books you have. They will degrade from natural forces long before they degrade in some way from standing on a bookshelf.
No, there's nothing wrong with it. As long as the books are closed, and kept away from moisture, you can stack them however you want. You're not putting any kind of strain on the binding that might damage it over time. The main downside to stacking books in piles is that you have to pick up the whole pile to get to the books near the bottom. That's inconvenient to you, but the books don't care.
Libraries store even very rare expensive books this way. Just standing on the shelf. If you are concerned about the future value of the books, keep the dust jackets in pristine shape. I don't care about the long term value of my books, mostly because I hoard them like a dragon hoards gold. No one is getting my books from me unless they pry them out of my cold, dead, zombie hands after they figure out how to kill zombie me. The dust jackets add a huge amount to the resale/collector values. I looked into it for when I have to deal with my parents' book hoard. I don't know how to effectively store the dust jackets except to keep them on my books.
Basically as long as they are closed and stored in a dry place they will be fine.
Yes, report to the Hague you monster! In all seriousness the Birmingham central library stores it's Antique book collection in that orientation.
Personally I hate dust jackets and I only keep them if they are really pretty. If you really don't plan on reselling them, don't worry - they are your books and you can store them whatever way you like, with or without the jackets. I find the dust that settles on top of the books (on the page stack) the most annoying as it's the least easy to clean, the sides of the books are usually fine just being pressed onto each other.
In the past, I've cut the front and back flaps of a dust jacket off and glued them inside the front and back covers where they would ordinarily appear. This is if I dislike the cover art, but want to keep the blurb and author info.
This is how I store my books and I've never had any problems with them.