If you're lucky enough to have the room to create a home library, making a good plan for shelving, seating and lighting is your first step. We have a room twelve feet wide and eighteen feet long that became our library. Two large windows on one wall provide plenty of natural light and ventilation. Four nice comfy chairs, a small table to sit at, and some nice floor lamps round out the furniture. The window wall is sixteen feet long and eight feet high. The windows are approximately one foot in from each end of the wall. This allowed room for two nice corner shelf units to be built The balance of the wall space is broken into different height sized shelving unit sections. Some were made just for paperback books, some for hard cover large books and some for plain ordinary sized books. One area holds favorite magazines and an electric pencil sharpener and glass mug for holding pencils.
The bottom or lowest shelf also presented an additional problem as the book wall is also the Northern exterior wall of the home and needed heating units at floor level. All the shelving, standards, etc are composed of twelve inch wide clear pine boards stained with a light maple color. The bottom shelf was built eighteen inches wide (or deep) and twelve inches high. The height provides an area to mount the baseboard heat so that it was not directly under the books themselves. The hydronic baseboard is flush mounted on the face of the bottom section.
Childrens Storage Shelves
I then divided the balance of the open space into three equal sections and installed shelf end panel full height to the ceiling for each one. Along the ceiling is a continuous twelve inch wide board to make the top of the bookcase. In the left most section, I built in a small storage box about twelve inches high and twelve inches deep by the full shelf width of 36" (+_), With a spring catch mounted door installed in a horizontal position, it appears as just a box out in the wall. When pressed sharply, the door opens to reveal storage items needed in a library such as a Stapler, paper clips, pens, pads, tape, etc.).
The balance of the wall space was divided using some samples of the books on hand for sizing. Each shelf is installed using a dado cut, glue and nails rather than European shelf pegs or standards. It provides a much more "built-in" look as they are indeed built in.
The paperback book section with its four inch deep shelves and three levels holds a good many books but does not allow me to hoard too badly. As they are read, I make a up bag and donate it to the local library and then refill the shelves from flea markets and local bookstores. There is a good mixture of both childrens and more adult stories to peruse. We decided to install mini blinds on the windows for those overly bright days that cause glare but more often than not they are left open for the sunshine. In winter we add some heavy curtains against the cold and along with the carpeted floor, the library is a good snug room to sit for hours and quietly read. I have now added a computer desk area for the computer and printer equipment. Homework, online news and letter writing have now joined the activities in our library.
I finished off the shelving units with two coats of clear polyurethane to protect against scratches and cup rings from coffee cups, sat down while looking for a particular book. Other than dusting, no real maintenance is required. A few municipalities may require a building permit for this type of interior work despite it not being structural in nature. Check with your local building department before you begin the work.
Pete
Your Friendly Building Inspector