Creating a Personal Home Library

Don’t you love the feeling of being in a library – the labyrinth of shelves, the smell of the books, the tranquil refuge from the hustle of life. It’s pretty safe to assume that one who loves libraries for these, or any other reasons, has quite an impressive personal collection of their own. Why not create your own library at home? We’ve got some ideas and suggestions to create your own paperback haven.

The best start is to take an inventory of your book collection. From there, you can determine how much room you have or need, how you’d like to catalog your inventory, and then decide how to display. Bookshelves’ width and depth range from 12” – 14”, and the average height of a book is around 9”. If you have larger books such as specialty art books, atlases or travel journals, you can adjust your shelf height to accommodate.

Don’t have an extra room to transform completely into a library? Easy – pick a wall, any wall. Floor to ceiling bookshelves are easy to build and customize. Perhaps you have a long blank wall in the entryway, or empty space around the fireplace, or in your bedroom. You can make a library fit in almost any space.

Add living room accents to incorporate into the cultural hub of your home. Fresh flowers, candles in hurricane glass, beautiful art pieces, apothecary jars full of souvenirs from the last trip to the beach – whatever style strikes your fancy, make this yours!

Don’t forget about essential lighting. Whether it be natural, ambient, accent, or task lighting, you need to not only be able to easily browse your collection, but see the words on the pages of your latest adventure.

What’s a library without somewhere to sit and read? Space may be limited, so even if it’s a simple wingback chair, small loveseat, or rocking recliner, anything will work when it’s time to sit down and lose yourself in the pages.

Alexandria Library Management Software is a simple and affordable way to manage your book collection. Alexandria’s cost effective license structure allows users from all walks of life to benefit from its organizational and inventory features.

We’d love to see pictures of your library creations – comment below to show us your fabulous job!