Poll (wait for it!): how many bookcases do you own?

[prairiewindmomma]

I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one in the 16-19 category. If I were to count the ones not holding books right now I'd be in the 20+ category....they are busy holding pantry items in the storage part of my basement.

 

I only have 8 Billy bookcases....I wish IKEA was closer. They really have held up the best, and I LOVE being able to put doors on the cases so that I can hide my science supplies, math manipulatives, etc.

[nmoira]

More than 20, only 8 Billys.

[jewellsmommy]

You can post how many of them are Billys, if you want. ;) I will post my answer after I make the poll.

 

6 full size and 2 half size

[Guest]

9, not counting cabinets that have schoolbooks in them and not counting a couple of small decorative cases, such as the one that hold my Harry Potter books.

 

No Billys, but I bought my parents 3 Billys for Christmas. They are so happy.

[Meriwether]

Short answer: 16

 

Three of those are half as tall as the others. One is a barrister bookcase that doesn't hold as much as my other bigger ones. Two of them are "stacks" that stick out from the wall. They have 7-8 3' shelves on each side and, between the two of them, hold several thousand books (many of those are easy readers but they also hold hundreds and hundreds of paperbacks).

 

I also have books in baskets, firewood boxes, doll cradles, etc. Dd9 has a couple of dresser drawers full of books and a couple of shelves in her closet hold books. We are due for a couple more shelves, but I want to wait until we move next month.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Meriwether

[Incognito]

I only have 3 (2 billys), but we should have 6 or 8. We have many boxes of books tucked under beds and next year's cirriculum doesn't have a home yet.

[tabrizia]

I voted 20 or more because we own 20+ bookcases, That being said only 16 or so are in use right now, the others will come back into play when we finish organizing thing (if that ever happens).

[DaffodilDreams]

11 for now, though at this rate, we'll soon need more.

[Dmmetler]

10-12-about half are big,floor to ceiling ones (including covering most of the walls of our schoolroom. The other half are smaller ones scattered all through the house that hold books but also hold other things. And that's not counting multiple file boxes of music books (would be more, but I downsized all my ECED music materials last year) and several more boxes of books.

 

Oh...and we have a dresser filled with books that have been read and are destined for the Friends of the Library sale, and usually several stacks of books around the house.

 

The scary part is-that's AFTER converting almost all the classics to Kindle!

[Melinda in VT]

Uhm, counting the kids' shelves, we have more than 50... and some of those have the books in double rows (which I *hate* doing)... and then there are the unshelved books waiting for labels and homes...

 

Can you elaborate on the labels? :bigear:

 

I feel a massive reorganization of the bookshelves coming (maybe in October?) and I'm gathering ideas.

[Corraleno]

26

 

10 extra-deep oak bookcases (3.5' wide x 9' high) in the library & LR

7 Billy bookcases (3 full-height, 4 half-height) in the schoolroom

6 nice office-style wood bookcases (3'x6') in my study & DH's study

2 Target bookcases (3'x3') in the kids' rooms

1 antique bookcase (2'x6') in the guest room

 

That doesn't count the 2 large IKEA cabinets full of books, or the boxes of books in the garage. :tongue_smilie:

 

Jackie

[JoLuRu]

We're in a 950 sq. ft. house and have 6, but one is a 4x4 Expedit with a 2 x 4 stacked on top (does that count as two? It holds so much stuff!) and one is a 5 foot wide, floor to ceiling oak monstrosity, so in *normal* bookshelf capacity I'd need at least 9. And I have a stack of boxes of books with no where to put them. I can't bare to purge books! :D

[KS_]

I don't know how to vote because we made a spare bedroom into a library and built shelving into the closet (floor to ceiling) and along one whole wall. In addition, there are 3 other regular bookcases in that room.

[TechWife]

I voted 12-14 as an estimate, but it's hard to tell. We have some built ins & some custom bookcases that aren't a standard size as well as 6 standard bookcases and one double book case. They are all full & I'm not counting the steps where we stack books that won't fit on a shelf.

 

If I count linear feet, I have approximately 224 feet of bookshelf space. That's a bit of an estimate because I am downstairs & can't remember the exact measurements of the built in shelving in the loft.

[ksr5377]

I'm counting 17 that are actually being used for books right now. But we just moved and I have neither unpacked all the books nor implemented my grand plan for built-in looking Billy shelves yet.

 

What is your built-in looking Billy shelves plan? I love the idea! I'm thinking of doing something like this in our living room.

[chepyl]

I have 8 in the house, one in the garage with no books and at least three more shelves worth in boxes with no permanent home.

[ksr5377]

I love you all so much! We only have 7 and 5 of those are short ones, only 3 shelves! I have been telling DH we desperately need more and he doesn't see it. Perhaps I should unpack my books that are in storage and just start piling them around the house? Or maybe he's trying to prevent us from eventually owning 20 bookshelves?:D

[justamouse]

...I actually have a library, but I counted the free standing, too. :D I think I undercounted, I had no way to really count the library. (It was the selling point of the house for us. And, just you wait till we redo the attic.

[ereks mom]

20+ for us. Most of these are LARGE bookcases--very wide and/or floor to ceiling. We love our books!

[ladydusk]

I have 12 or so, but I have books all over the place that ought to be on shelves.

[BeckyFL]

I had SO many. I was so proud when I got rid of most of them BUT I have a whole closet (walk in) with books, the top shelf of my closet, shelves in the kids rooms, one book shelf in the family room and some books on the entertainment center. So... did I really make any progress at all? I know I got rid of books! I really did!

[dirty ethel rackham]

11. 3 in my living room (one is for my Usborne Books samples.) 5 in my family room. 1 in dd's bedroom. 2 in dss' bedroom. I just have a nightstand that has a precarious pile of books on it that I am trying to read.

[FO4UR]

I have about 10....with piles on the floor. We need another 2-3...

 

 

 

...I actually have a library, but I counted the free standing, too. :D I think I undercounted, I had no way to really count the library. (It was the selling point of the house for us. And, just you wait till we redo the attic.

 

 

I.am.jealous.

 

 

(I'm inviting myself over to drool:drool:...I'll bring cookies. You make coffee.)

[freeindeed]

We own 10, but I need more. I'm just running out of room for them.

[HelenNotOfTroy]

We have 13. We have had to get rid of about half a dozen in the last few years, some were injured in a move and others in a small household flood. We have quite a few boxes of books that need new homes, but we really don't have room for more shelves. We will have to replace some that we have with taller ones. None are Billy shelves.

[LostSurprise]

I voted 16-19, depending on how I count built-ins (some are pretty deep, others are book shelf width), bookshelves which hold Lego creations, building toys, board games, etc. I could fit in the 20+ category.

 

No Billys.

 

Almost every room has at least 1 bookshelf and the house came with 3 obvious built-in bookshelves (one is pretty long) and 4 built-in cabinets which also hold books and boardgames well. The office has five bookshelves of varying heights (we don't really match) and the basement has 6+ cases.

 

Oh, I forgot, Target has lamps with small shelves! They can be handy.

 

Sometimes it amazes me. I come from a family that had one 3 foot bookshelf. Half of it held my father's college accounting textbooks.

[freerange]

I voted 16-19, but I think I actually have more....oy!!!

I had dh build a continuous shelf over all the window and door frames in our living room, kitchen & family room....they house our books....PLUS, I had him remove the sheetrock and build shelves between the joists of our knee walls for extra paperback storage....so those line the walls...

 

THEN...I had him build shelves in our dorma closets....books....

Each kid has an additional full freestanding bookshelf in their room...

Linen closet.....books.

Family room storage closet.....ummmmm....brooks...

 

This is almost embarassing.....but, also kinda cool.....:D

 

:w00t::001_tt1:

 

 

16-19 here, though progress has been slowed by my recent policy of only buying solid wood shelves, and only on ebay. Had a non solid wood bookcase collapse a few years ago!

[Kathryn]

Bookshelf envy: I need pictures. At least I'm with the majority.

[Shamzanne]

I live in a Christian community which owns a publishing house and a used theological bookstore. My daughter and I have 10 bookshelves in our two bedrooms alone. If I include the rest of our house (9 people total) we have more than 30. (All of these house our personal books, not any for the publishing company or bookstore. I just mentioned that to say that we're big readers!)

[Tap]

20 or more.

 

I stopped counting when I got to 20 and we still have maybe 5-10 more...LOL

[*Lulu*]

Alright, y'all just made me feel so much better about myself! I counted up our bookcases, (7 including the 6 foot long homemade one). Then I realized that we have an additional 8 book baskets and 5 more random sIngle shelves or stacks of books. I was feeling a bit embarrassed for the volume of shelves and storage we have going here, but that was before I read about the rest of y'all! :D I think the next time DH rolls his eyes about me wanting another bookshelf I will pull at this thread so he can see how far below average our bookcase number is! Thanks! :lol:

[Melissa in Australia]

I have floor to ceiling bookshelves my DH built that are around7 metres long. these are actually only 2 bookshelves. so I am not sure if I voted correctly or not. I also have several slat beds converted into bookshelves, and a built into the wall bookshelves unit with the computer in it as large as a built in closet. Oh, I just realised I forgot to include all the kids bookshelves. each child has bookshelves in their room. I voted 7, but really should have voted 13.

[kalanamak]

I think the poll should be linear feet of shelving ...

[AndyJoy]

14 bookcases of books here (two others hold DVDs and toys). One is double-stacked. Last year 2 more of them were double-stacked, but dh downsized his classic sci-fi and fantasy collection.

 

My sister literally owned ZERO books a year ago, so I figure I get to make up for that.:D

[amydavis]

Okay, I am glad to know that I'm in good company with my apparent book, and bookcase, addiction!

 

I've got 30 different bookcases, of various sizes, downstairs. Most of them are large ones though.

 

I'm too tired to go upstairs and make sure I'm not forgetting anything, but I believe there are at least 4 more up there (one of which is as long as dd's room).

 

We also have 2 long shelves that hang on the wall in the hallway to hold dvds, but I'm not counting those.

 

I know I have a problem, because I was actually thinking of another nook we could put another shelf in. :D Dh jokes that homeschooling is simply a way to hide our book addiction.

[amydavis]

It's not?

 

well.... ;)

[Maverick_Mom]

I counted 23. We have some stackable ones -- the old Situations bookcases that Office Max or Staples or somebody used to sell -- I cried when they stopped carrying them -- anyway, I counted each of those as one, even though most of 'em are stacked two-high. Didn't count an entertainment unit that houses some books, because, well, it's not technically a bookshelf. :D

 

ETA: Wait! I forgot to count the ones in the kids' rooms! That would be seven more, bringing us up to 30. Oh, and I just remembered that four of the cases downstairs house movies, so maybe I should strike those from the list, since although they're bookshelves, they're not holding books? That would bring us down to 26, but I still fall into the same category. Oh, and another shelf downstairs holds games. 25. (I think I'm done now. :D)

 

ETA 2: If any of our bookcases have names, they haven't shared them with us. :tongue_smilie:

Edited July 28, 2012 by Maverick_Mom

[courtney.byrum]

We have 2 Billy bookcases downstairs, each kid has a Kilby bookcase (also Ikea), then we have 4 1/2 size bookcases that are in use for books and other things.

 

Then there is the built in shelf in the hall that is full of books...

 

We also have a 4x4 Expedit but it's not used for books so I didn't count it.

 

eta: on a side note we also have 19 boxes of books in the garage since we know we won't be staying here long term. Would need at least 5 more bookcases for those if I recall correctly.

[funschooler5]

I voted 9, but I forgot 3 of them (how did I do that?)...so 12 total, but 4 of them are half sized shelves.

[Onceuponatime]

Nine, of various sizes, none from Ikea. I included the china cabinet that is used as a book shelf.

[jolley]

We have 6 full sized book cases from different places.

[Denisemomof4]

I voted 10 - 12. Some are very large, others small. I probably have more than that number.

[Mama_Rana]

I voted 7-9, but 2 of those are the huge Ikea Expedit shelves that are 6'X6'. Then again, the others aren't all full of books, so maybe it balances out. ;) OTOH, my Expedits are full, and that's where the majority of our books are. Not sure what I'm going to do as I acquire more books... There's no more room. *sigh*

[JenMama]

17 exclusively with books and another three for toys/games/puzzles.

[LittleIzumi]

6, plus several boxes and dd made her own out of a cardboard box.

[Evergreen State Sue]

I have 13 - 8 are Billy Bookcases!

[melmichigan]

We have 14 floor to ceiling bookcases for books only. I bought out a whole wall when the Borders bookstore was going out of business. Mine are wider than a Billy with drilled shelves to hold the weight but sometimes I miss having adjustable shelves. I have two shelves left...

Edited July 28, 2012 by melmichigan

[momofsbandeg]

We have 6 in the living room, 2 in dining room, 2 in master bedroom, 2 at end of hallway, one in each of dds' rooms.

 

We had 2 more, but had to cut back some. :tongue_smilie: I sold 10 boxes of books at a home school book sale in June. And I still have a lot that I am still trying to sell on ebay and on the forums.

 

We love our books.

[Violet Crown]

Twenty-two. It would be higher, but dh's three bookcases (one is wall-sized) are in his lovely roomy high-ceilinged office. He keeps an up-to-date list of what's in his office so I can place an order when necessary.

[Kim in Appalachia]

And they are filled. :D