Cool bookshelfs, shelving and book displays

I just caught a glimpse of a wonderful bookcase in the video Paul shared here of the recent permaculture symposium event in Spokane. Harmony woods retreat have a wonderful round meeting room with an elevated bookcase on part of the wall.

Harmony wood retreat round book shelf

Now I'd probably want it all the way round with one or more moveable ladders (I'm not sure how Harmony woods access their books).

I'm a bit of a book collector, mostly from my youth, but I'm still collecting useful non-fiction at the moment. My main book shelf takes up one wall of our 'study'. This photo is from when it was just finished and the books weren't overflowing quite so much...You can see they were mostly double stacked already!

book shelves in study

My youngest sister has a really cool book shelf that is built into her stairwell. Her house goes over three stories with a stair that sort of spirals up. The bookcase is double width so she can access books from either side. It isn't quite like this one but gives you the idea perhaps.

bookcase on stairway wall

I'd love to see other cunning bookshelves. Do you hide your books or have a great way of displaying them?

Our current living room came with a small, built-in bookshelf which has a mixture of books and games on it. Other than the children's books we kept, most of the books are non-fiction.

I think I figure that the public library can provide me with all the fiction I want, as I would normally only read a fiction book once. Nonfiction I want because I will refer to them as needed. Although largely spoiled by the internet, I'm loath to trust it, or even my computer, as a permanent repository of important information. Some of the gardening books are at least 30 years old.

source

I like this one Anne!



I think that the shelves should start just a bit further up, so you could snuggle up in there and read more comfortably!

My favorite bookshelves I've ever had were built in, floor to ceiling, flanking the fireplace. There was a perfect spot right there for my old wing back chair, and for the year we lived in that house (1997-98), it was my absolute favorite thing, to curl up there in front of a cozy fire, with a mug of strong chamomile tea with milk & honey, a handful of shortbread cookies, and my book-du-jour, after everyone else was finally settled in bed, asleep.

Just thinking about that arrangement calms me, even now, lol.