4 ms·

Physical books are great. I love physical books. But (among other downsides) they take too much space. I've got just over 2,500 books on my Kindle. That's more

by Zanni 2y ago

Physical books are great. I love physical books. But (among other downsides) they take too much space. I've got just over 2,500 books on my Kindle. That's more than 200 linear feet of shelf space if they were physical books. My ideal library is a hybrid: physical for art books, kid's books, reference books, large format or special edition, signed copies or sentimental treasures, etc., and digital for everything else. An iPad as a digital card catalog for the entire collection and a couple of Kindles for actual reading. (Impossible to browse on a Kindle ...)

yial 2y ago
I couldn’t find an average thickness of books, so I quickly measured the 2nd from top shelf of my closest bookcase. (The top seemed unfair as it has a collection of “the world’s famous orations” which seem abnormally thin ). Shelf in question: https://ibb.co/CznTZ5m https://ibb.co/CznTZ5m (Googling I just seemed to get spine thickness and format sizes but not an average of actual printed thickness ) It has 21 books in 28 inches. 1.34 inches per book. I get 279 linear feet for 2,500 books. Checking Amazon, Walmart, the book cases they sell seem to be 5-6 tier with 24 inch width. (Though checking my non built in ones, all of the ones I own are around 4 feet). Using the Amazon average, you’d need 24 book cases to fit all of them… which does seem like a lot. Wonderful but a lot. I do have a kindle, and I love it. But something about physical books is great. I have 5 built in book cases of various sizes, and 6, four feet Wide book cases that are 5 or 6 tiers… and yet I still have bins and bins of books in my attic. Initially I had thought “that’s manageable” but upon some self reflection you make an excellent point.
- Zanni 2y ago
  I appreciate the fact-checking and the self-reflection :) I used 1" as an estimate (I have a lot of paperbacks), but 1.34" is probably a better estimate for hardbacks.

by Zanni 2y ago

yial 2y ago

I couldn’t find an average thickness of books, so I quickly measured the 2nd from top shelf of my closest bookcase. (The top seemed unfair as it has a collection of “the world’s famous orations” which seem abnormally thin ). Shelf in question: https://ibb.co/CznTZ5m https://ibb.co/CznTZ5m (Googling I just seemed to get spine thickness and format sizes but not an average of actual printed thickness ) It has 21 books in 28 inches. 1.34 inches per book. I get 279 linear feet for 2,500 books. Checking Amazon, Walmart, the book cases they sell seem to be 5-6 tier with 24 inch width. (Though checking my non built in ones, all of the ones I own are around 4 feet). Using the Amazon average, you’d need 24 book cases to fit all of them… which does seem like a lot. Wonderful but a lot. I do have a kindle, and I love it. But something about physical books is great. I have 5 built in book cases of various sizes, and 6, four feet Wide book cases that are 5 or 6 tiers… and yet I still have bins and bins of books in my attic. Initially I had thought “that’s manageable” but upon some self reflection you make an excellent point.

Zanni 2y ago
I appreciate the fact-checking and the self-reflection :) I used 1" as an estimate (I have a lot of paperbacks), but 1.34" is probably a better estimate for hardbacks.