How do you store picture books?

[medawyn]

Hi, I'm Abigail and I have a book problem. I figure I'm in good company here.

 

Between 8 years of elementary teaching and now the advent of my own children, I have more picture books than I can easily put out. And I'm probably going to get more (completely unrepentant).

 

I'd love to stash the holiday/season specific books away to bring out when appropriate. What are your best book storage tips and containers? I have a dry storage space in my basement and can probably co-op space in an underused closet.

Edited September 3, 2017 by medawyn

[mathmarm]

In piles between bookshelves'.

 

Leveled Readers and pamphlet thin EASY Reader books are stored grouped together roughly by topic and level in accordion folders.

Sooooo wish that I had a better system in place.

[Guinevere]

I gave up sorting books like that because I am so busy and don't have time to put them away and get them out again.  And I never remember to do it at a good time.  I don't know what "a lot of books" is, but I think we have a lot.  I recently sent a bunch to the thrift store, but we still have about 1500 books, not counting digital materials.  Dh built a big floor to ceiling book shelf that runs the length of our living room.  Every book in our house goes there, except workbooks and a handful of school books that are more convenient if left upstairs.  

 

Could you just put a bookshelf in your basement?

[MyLife]

I have the majority of our picture books organized alphabetically on bookshelves. Our chapter books are organized by reading level. I do have some plastic bins on our shelves that hold picture books and chapter books if they are related to our school work. So, there is a bin labeled American History, Ancient History, Veritas Press Favorites, FIAR, etc.

[regentrude]

On book shelves, just like other books.

[My4arrows]

For holiday/seasonal books I pack them up with the holiday/seasonal decorations so they come out when I get those things out (otherwise I forget). For minor holidays I have them on our school bookshelves so I can find them and they aren't lost.

We have separate bookshelves. One in my office that houses the books I don't want ruined or are for school- so all the school books, FIAR books and holiday type stuff will go there. The others are in the playroom and the kids rooms for free range reading.

[Spryte]

Ours are on the bookshelves.

 

I have tried sorting them into magazine holders by theme, if they fit, or stashing away holiday themes in bins only to forget about them.  We find that once they are sorted into the bins, they are out of sight, out of mind.

 

So we have them on shelves, and they get used.  :)

 

I do have a plastic bin full of Xmas theme books that we keep with our holiday decorating stuff.  Theoretically, I wrap them each year, and put them in a basket - the kids would then open one per night till Xmas, and we'd read it before bed.  But, that hasn't happened in years.  I just put the holiday themed books in a basket near the tree and the kids read them as they wish.  Then when we pack up the Xmas stuff, we pack the books away again for the year.

 

All the other holiday theme books live on the shelves.  

[medawyn]

I gave up sorting books like that because I am so busy and don't have time to put them away and get them out again.  And I never remember to do it at a good time.  I don't know what "a lot of books" is, but I think we have a lot.  I recently sent a bunch to the thrift store, but we still have about 1500 books, not counting digital materials.  Dh built a big floor to ceiling book shelf that runs the length of our living room.  Every book in our house goes there, except workbooks and a handful of school books that are more convenient if left upstairs.  

 

Could you just put a bookshelf in your basement?

 

 

On book shelves, just like other books.

 

I'm out of bookshelves and bookshelf space! :lol:  I have two floor to ceiling walls of the basement filled with bookshelves; the bottom row of each is currently dedicated to kids' books.  I have bookshelves in my bedroom, and living room, too.

 

The basement storage has built in shelves from the previous owner; they are great for giant totes, but not great for books.  I guess I should look into smaller, stackable plastic bins with really good labels.

 

Ours are on the bookshelves.

 

I have tried sorting them into magazine holders by theme, if they fit, or stashing away holiday themes in bins only to forget about them.  We find that once they are sorted into the bins, they are out of sight, out of mind.

 

So we have them on shelves, and they get used.   :)

 

I do have a plastic bin full of Xmas theme books that we keep with our holiday decorating stuff.  Theoretically, I wrap them each year, and put them in a basket - the kids would then open one per night till Xmas, and we'd read it before bed.  But, that hasn't happened in years.  I just put the holiday themed books in a basket near the tree and the kids read them as they wish.  Then when we pack up the Xmas stuff, we pack the books away again for the year.

 

All the other holiday theme books live on the shelves.  

 

 

This is what I've done with the Christmas books (not the wrapping thing, the sticking in with the decorating thing).  I do remember to get those out, so maybe I can toss a bin of fall/Halloween books together this year when I put away the fake pumpkins.

[historically accurate]

I don't have many picture books anymore, but we had dishpans so the kids could flip through and pick based on covers. So, the bottom 4 shelves of the bookcase were dishpans with books facing outward. The only sorting was board books (kept with the baby toys) and non-board books (on the shelves). During Christmas or before a unit on whatever, I'd spend a few moments and gather those books together and put them up. 

[heartlikealion]

My toddler and I have read Baby's First Christmas several times this month :laugh:

[Rosika]

I have a book problem, too  :001_tt1:

 

Most of my picture books live in a 4x2 Ikea Expedit. The lower shelves house books that I don't mind the little ones rifling through on their own - so, board books and books with messed up spines that are well-loved, etc. They are stored facing-out in baskets, with little to no regard for organization other than "board books" and "regular books". The upper shelves house books that require a bit more gentle handling. They are stored spines-out and are loosely organized by type, but I'm not a fanatic about it. I was once, but the grey hairs and stress weren't worth it LOL. 

 

I do a major switch out of books at the end of the school year, and again around Christmas. It might be a chore to some, but I find it calming and a nice escape from the stress of those times of year. I love my books! It allows me to cull the collection to see what we have, what we "need" or don't, what needs replacing, etc. My big buying seasons are the christmas holidays and when curricula shopping, so the timing is perfect for that. Books go out of rotation to some sweater tubs under the guest bed. I think that's what they're called. They're low-height, long tubs meant to go under beds. They're clear so I can see at a glance most of what is any given tub, and picture books mostly lay flat so lots will fit into a single tub. The tubs get heavy but are easy to slide out from under the bed. 

 

I have a separate collection of "holiday" books in the living room. These are 1-5 books on any given holiday or season that I pull from as appropriate for the time of year.  It has any Christmas-y books I've bought since the last Christmas. 

 

I have another separate collection of about 45 picture books that follow the liturgical year (Catholic Mosaic), which I also pull from at the appropriate time of year. These two collections together take up about a shelf's worth of space. When I "pull" the books from these collections, they go on the wall in a face-out display. Nothing fancy, just a few picture ledges in the schoolroom wall for the kids to pick and choose (or not) at their convenience.

 

I have a third, separate collection of about 70 Tomie dePaola books. These are my most-loved, and some of my most-hunted, so I like to keep them from getting mixed in with the other, lesser picture books! Everyone in this house knows not to mingle the TdP books with the others. Because Mama has issues that are easier to roll with than to try to make logic of. To help with this, we have a dedicated TdP basket next to the sofa. 

 

Finally, I have about 100 books that are stored in tubs with the holiday decorations. I get these out around Thanksgiving, and leave them out until February or so. They live in cheap dish washing tubs on the fireplace or under the tree, wherever there's room. These are the Thanksgiving, Christmas, winter seasonal books - everything up until Valentine's Day (which is housed with the holiday collection in the living room.)  

 

I also have picture books stacked on the staircase, in baskets next to every toilet, in baskets next to some of our beds, and in fabric tubs in our cars. Most of my kids are past the picture book stage, and yet ... the house still overfloweth. I've seen Hoarders. There are worse things that could be piling up in our home!! 

[Megbo]

We keep the "good" picture books on bookshelves and cheaper/flimsier picture books and easy readers in small bins. The bins make it easy for our little guy to transport books around the house, find books he likes, and put them away himself. 

 

Holiday books are stored with the holiday decorations. There's no logic behind it, it's just what my mother did.