Shelving very small books

Most of my books are approximately standard sized, but over time I've accumulated a few with unusually small dimensions. I'm talking 3-5 inches high, much shorter than your standard mass-market paperback, and an inch or two shallower as well. I haven't got very many of these, maybe 9 or 10, but it's enough that I've wondered what to do about shelving them. They look so strange sitting on the shelf next to my regular-sized paperbacks, and there's a lot of wasted space above them, and stacking them horizontally isn't really an option (they're irregular sizes even compared to one another, so they don't stack well, and there's still the wasted space issue). Right now I've got them laying horizontally on top of my other books, but this isn't an ideal solution either.

My question is, does anyone else have a collection of tiny books? How do you shelve/store/display them?

Well you could always get a special shelf/small unit dedicated to them?

Don't really have any good solutions for you. I have a couple of those, and they do look odd on the shelf. For a while one became basically a coffee-table book, and guests would pick it up and flip through it, even if they weren't really interested in the contents ... I think they just liked how small and cute it was. For another while, when I had more random knickknacks on the shelves in front of my books, they were some of the knickknacks (actually, I think that's how that one migrated to the coffee table in the first place).

I was thinking a small basket.

Depending on the age of the books (e.g. if they're rather old), one thing you may want to keep an eye on is that their boards can begin to warp. (I have a couple that are more than a century old, mainly European, that do this. I try to combat it by shelving them tightly between larger books.)

I don't know of any off-hand, but your best option in terms of shelving otherwise is to find some type of small shelf or insert that you can set on one of your current shelves to double stack the short books.

I've sometimes used a cardboard box on its side as a shelf insert, but you can easily make something more solid with three bits of plywood joined together in an "H" shape.

For some paperbacks I have grouped them together and saved horizontal shelf space by placing them in boxes designed for photos/VHS tapes (usually available cheap at Michael's crafts in the U.S.), DVDs (e.g. Ikea Kassette line), or Globe Weis 6x9 inch index card trays with lids. Each of these serves a different purpose.

The photo/VHS boxes are good for mass-market pocket-sized paperbacks.

The DVD boxes work for 1900-1930 thick pulp paperbacks that need extra protection.

The index card trays work great for half-letter magazines (5.5x8.5 inches) where a letter sheet is folded once and a stack of these are stapled.

The Globe Weis boxes are available in smaller sizes, down to 3x5 inches, I believe, so you might get something that is just right for your needs. These have a plastic return mechanism to prop up cards when they don't fill an entire box. However, most of the time I remove these from my boxes to use them completely.

James

Thanks for the ideas, everyone! Double-stacking isn't much of an option because my space is so limited-- almost everything is double-stacked already, and anything that isn't probably will be soon. Any additional box or shelving unit would have to live in some other location as there isn't any room for it on the current shelf. A shallow shelf insert might be just the thing, though, and I could probably find or make one pretty easily. If that doesn't work out, I think I'll try the boxes Keeline mentioned--they sound good as well.

I haven't got many old books, and the only tiny book I have that's old or valuable is a 1957 Pocket Poets chapbook. But that one is probably the closest to mass-market paperback size except that it's so skinny, so I can slip it in among the other, taller tomes without much worry over its structural integrity. The others were all printed more recently, probably the oldest being from the late 1990s, so I'm not too worried about their boards slipping--they're strong and even if damaged they'd be easy to replace. They're only problematic in that the smallest of them is about 3x3 inches, and they range up from there to about 6x4, almost MMPB size but not quite.

I have a lot of Japanese books which are much smaller than standard books. A lot of people use shelves for DVDs to store these smaller books which is something I will also probably do as I get even more Japanese books.

I placed some of my miniature books in a row in front of some related books.

A tabletop book trough/rack might work. They can be picked up fairly cheaply at antique shops.

I found a small shelving unit - 4 shelves, for a total of about a foot and a half tall, which sits on top of a dresser. It accommodates most of my "tinies".

Rereading the first topic again I realize my suggestion doesn't work at all. I think #10's picture shows the best and cutest option.

>10 moibibliomaniac: - how sweet is that?

Some of mine are resting quite comfortably in a brass one of these: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/expandable-bookends
ebay is loaded with them at a wide range of prices. I'd never seen one before until I spotted mine at a local car boot sale -- and I got it for $2!

The smallest of the smalls are stacked randomly in small groups -- vertically and horizontally -- on my fireplace mantle, along with some vintage ornaments.

Bless you #14!! I was one click away from buying one of those things before I found the strength to resist. They are nice.

I used a tray sized basket for my "tinies" and smaller picture/gift books and left that on my coffee table.

The basket was the size and shape of a serving tray, but the sides were three inches high. It worked nicely since the books were mostly humor, cartoon, art, or 'wisdom' books.

Something like this might be pretty easy to make in a custom size - popsicle sticks for the slats, maybe?

If you can find who made your bookshelves, another option is to contact the manufacturer to buy an extra shelf or two. You could also have a shelf made locally. My bookshelves had too much vertical space, so I looked up the company that made them online and bought just a few shelves. This one holds books that are no more than about five inches tall:

#18 by TrippB>

Our bookcases in the room we call the "library" (there are books in many other rooms though) came from various independent oak furniture stores. Since they were purchased over time and from a few different stores, the style varies slightly. Once you fill them with books, they become the focus and not the minor variations in the bookcase details.

In their effort to be economically efficient, these companies provided a shelf for every 12 inches (25 cm) or so of vertical space. This was not sufficient for most of our books which are duodecimo (12mo, about 8 inches or 20 cm high). We soon learned that it was essential to buy extra shelves to make sure we had the capacity that we would likely need. Sometimes the books we chose to put on the shelves were taller and the spare shelf for that case is put on top for any future arrangement.



More library photos here

As I mentioned in a previous post, we put some smaller items in boxes. These can be used with or without lids per your preference.

I also joke often that if you have ample use for bookends, you don't have enough books :) However, we have used bookends for smaller books at the top of a book case. I don't have a photo of it but in our office where many of the Shakespeare items are kept we have a pair of bookends to gather all of the small books that are 6 inches (15 cm) or smaller.

James

I have used vintage wooden soda bottle flats, the kind that grocers and bottlers used to stack coca cola bottles. Some have tiny wooden compartments and some were made with wooden dividers like tiny bookshelves.

Very decorative, often well crafted with dovetails, meant to last, these disappeared from groceries and wholesalers in the late 60s, but they were everywhere before then. You could carry coke flats and stack them in vehicles when moving, or use them vertically or in landscape mode inside larger shelves.

Especially nice for little books of poetry, interspersed with tiny tins of loose tea.

I suppose they are available as expensive collectibles now.

This doesn't answer your shelving question, but for miniature books the Miniature Book Society sells small bookends that are pretty cool/cute.

http://mbs.org/store.html