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On the Transporting and Storing of Lots of Books...
grammar nazi asks: "After finishing school, I'll be moving far away in a month. I have amassed a large collection of math, computer, science, and fiction books and I need to put them in storage. Does anyone have any ideas for good book-storage containers? The Rubbermaid tubs have sufficient environmental protection, but books don't stack nicely or efficiently inside of them. I would like something that will protect books from the humidity of a rental storage space, allow for efficient packing/stacking, and be large enough so that I could keep different categories in different containers (i.e. math books in one, computer books in one, fiction in another)."
The containers you use should be small enough that when it is full, at most, 2 people can still lift it.
<side_note_to_ignore>I just realized that I have run out of shelf room in here. Now I have an excuse to keep books on the floor.</side_note_to_ignore>
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If my facts are wrong then tell me. I don't mind.
Might I recommend boxes? I know that sounds sarcastic, but seriously, put a big sturdy garbage bag in the box and wrap the openeing around the edges. You can then stack the books comfortably, at your leisure, you'll also get the satisfying sensation of brushing up against all that black glossy plastic with your forarms.
To seal it up, you could just stuff the bag in and close the box or you could use a twisty-tie, bailing wire and needle nosed plier, melt it shut with a bic lighter, use a glue gun or even a few swathes of trusty old duct tape.
To be extra safe, include some baking powder or silica gel and moth balls. If you're in need of further safeguards, you could also booby-trap the boxes with something akin to a letter bomb, if for instance you suspect treacherous sentiment of the storage center custodial staff. If you do choose this precation, I strongly recommend a steel plate between the bomb and your books. After all, the boxes will already weigh close to a metric tonne, what's a little armor plating gonna hurt?
:)Fudboy
:)Fudboy
I guess I'm only a Fudboy, looking for that real Transmeta
I should know. I've got about 140 books whose spines are kinda curved from sitting upright for months.
Friends help friends move.
Good friends help friends move bodies.
Really good friends help friends move books.
Make a large pile of the things that you're not likely to reread or sleep hugging them to your chest. Go to the used book store. Trade them in. You'll come out with fewer books than before (a ratio of 3 to 1, most likely). They'll be books you'll be more likely to use. And you'll lose fewer friends on moving day.
First, don't try for a sealed container like the Rubbermaid tubs. You have as much chance of sealing humidity/mold/mildew in as you do keeping it out. I know, I did this and ended up with damaged books.
For moving books, nothing beats the U-Haul "book boxes" (fan-fold printer paper comes in exactly the same size box) for books. As long as your books aren't clay-coat paper or coffee-table size, they work well. Furthermore, one person can lift them without risking hernia.
To avoid weather damage, shop for your storage unit carefully. Examine the walls and floor for water damage, and reject any unit that has any stains more than 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) up the wall.
A couple of tricks that saved my books from damage even in a flood environment:
Don't put your boxes directly on the floor. If you can find them cheap, use a shipping pallet -- you can usually buy them cheap at a grocery store, perhaps for free. This gives you an easy 4 inches of clearance, so if water comes in it doesn't hit the boxes...and the clearance lets the water evaporate without your boxes in the way (see next tip).
Don't stack the boxes tightly, like bricks. Leave about an inch between the boxes on the ends and on the sides. This gives enough breathing space that any water damage will be kept to a minimum. This puts a premium to packing the boxes well, so that each end of the box can support weight without crushing.
Consider getting a tarp or large piece of plastic to put over the top of your boxes, so that water from any roof leaks (or upstairs neighbor disaster) is routed around your boxes. The covering sheet should be large enough to cover the boxes sufficiently, but not all the way to the floor.
If money is not a problem and you are really paranoid, consider building platforms so that you stack no more than three boxes high on any given shelf. Junk 2x4 and sheathing does wonders, although I've seen people build "frames" exclusively from 2x4 that work just as well. Just make sure you support the middle of the boxes as well as the edges. In one case, I built supports from 1x3s on a 2x4 square frame -- the 1x3s provided edge and middle support, and the 2x4 frame took the weight. Total cost of each shelf was about $20 because I lucked into a lumber sale.
When sealing your boxes, consider running packing tape along all seams. This keeps the bugs out (at least out of those boxes that don't have holes banged into them) and does wonders with keeping moisture from causing problems.
Hope this helps.
I had to move recently and found a good way to store books and similar items. At a my local grocery store they sell all sorts of seafood thats brought to the store in cheap generic syrofoam coolers. they're your basic rectangular design, no angled walls or anything. I talked to the manager and he gave em all to me. books stack nicely and the coolers themselves stack great too. and its easy to label the boxes very clearly with a big felt pen. And stacked in my garage (high humidity) no enviromental damage has occurred. plus whenever myself or a friend needs a cooler, it forces me to unpack one of the boxes.
.sig wanted: Must be concise, funny, and display my cleverness.
I moved house a couple of years ago, at the same time I was working in a University tech support department. The hardware people downstairs had a load of new monitors arriving each week, each packed in excellent quality triple-layer cardboard boxes. Monitors, like books, being heavy are shipped in stronger boxes than PCs.
By flatpacking, I could store a cache under my desk and cycle home with about six at a time.
Some guy had to send some books into the future so that he could use them to resurrect civilization. It sems to me that he dried out his books in an oven before sealing them up with additional dessicant.
HTH.
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
...might I also suggest large burlap bags of silica gel drying agent, just like the small packets you find in shoeboxes & electronics equipment. My dad swears by them whenever he stores his Corvette for the winter.
I figure smaller ones are available (I can't remember where; try your local Army surplus store) if you just want to throw one or two in a Rubbermaid storage container. That way it can also act as filler for excess space.
The way to "recharge" them when they're saturated is easy too; throw them in the oven at 300 degrees F for 20 minutes or so.
DrQu+xum: Proof that the lameness filter doesn't work.
I always found the boxes you can get from your local liquour store are about the right size so that you can still lift them when they're full of books.
I also found that after moving my books about 18 times (and realizing that some were still in the boxes from 4 or 5 moves ago), that the "take all but the most important ones to the local used book store and sell them, then when you're finished moving go and buy some new books" method works best.
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I have to agree with most of the comments, just go with plain old corragated boxes. The best I have found are the boxes that are used for shipping paper. The ones that hold 10 reams. They are designed to be completely filled with paper, which is what books are, and not break. The slide on covers mean you don't need to tape them closed or do the funky folding trick. They are also meant to be stacked. I have used this type of box for book storage for the past 20 years and they work great.
As for environmental factors follow the various other suggestions. Don't put the boxes directly on the floor. Don't completely seal things in plastic. Pack the books flat instead of on end.
If you can package them well enough to be proof against the apes, the U.S. Postal Service will do it reasonably (if you're in the U.S.---sorry, rest of world :-).
See the ``book rate'' page for details---you can ship 70 pounds for 31 cents/lb., anywhere in the U.S. Depending on distance, the ``bound printed matter'' rate might work---sounds like a book to me---but they limit you to 15 lbs./package.
My sisters have used it for exactly your purpose (getting books home from college) with great success.
I refuse to believe corporations are people until Texas executes one. -- desert rain on http://www.dailykos.com/user/
When I gave them the list (750 books long) the bookstore droids all had the same lament: "You don't have any fiction? No self-help?" One of them has relabeled ALL of thier non-fiction section as "Health and Arts"
My available space is now needed for people, so storage is no longer an option. I have given away as many as I can (not a lot of geeks here). I suppose I will shudder when I toss my volumes of Knuth into the woodstove.
*whup* "Get along, little electrons. Heeyah!"
If you look closely, the cardboard used in standard copy-paper boxes is relatively thin. The tops come off very easily (handy) but the tops plus the thin sides make for a flimsy box for stacking books in a storage unit. When you move them, the box will torque because there is no geometric support.
Another problem: the boxes are glued and any water will dissolve that glue, making it a pain to take the books out later.
That's why I suggest standard moving boxes, heavy boxes from the grocery, or equipment boxes with 200-lb or heavier cardboard. And tape it well.
Here's how I have my collection stored: Staples sells these heavy-walled corrugated boxes that look very much like fruit boxes. They're pretty big, durable, and they even have sturdy handles on the side! The only thing they don't have is lids. Luckily, standard computer or textbooks fill the height of the box completely, so I can get away with some heavy plastic sheeting stapled to the sides.
Or you can just buy eBooks and use MS Reader. :) *ducks* Just kidding....I HATE reading electronic books. Until they come out with a 1200dpi monitor and a "virtual-page-turner" UI, those dead trees will be firmly ensconced on my shelf.
in storage buildings, a set of those modular plastic shelves can be a huge plus.
the first shelf raises stuff above the floor a bit, and they can help take advantage of volume that's often wasted. they're pretty cheap, and go together quick.
Bear in mind the value of reasonably easy access.
If shelving allows you to avoid stacking boxes of books, so you can just walk in a grab a box, it's worth it. Consider numbering boxes and inventorying the books as you pack them. A tape recorder can make this pretty painless, and it save searching and makes it easier if you have to send someone else to the storage place to get something.
Silica gel dessicant can be bought cheaply in the craft section of walmart. It's sold for drying flowers. (search deja.com/usenet for more info)
If mice are a danger, they hate the smell of peppermint, and it's less unpleasant than mothballs.
Throw a going-away party for all of your friends, and tell them there's going to be a "book club" table of sorts. Put all of the books you wouldn't miss there, and let everybody know that they're free for the taking. Also, if anybody else has some books they think you would like to read, and that they would be willing to part from, they can exchange them for one of yours.
That way, at least you'll probably get some new books to read, while hopefully reducing the number of books you'll have to stash away.
I'm planning on doing something like that on my next birthday. I'm amazed none of my geek friends had thought of that before (probably because they don't have half as many books as I do!).
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
Learning to fly, Pink Floyd.
Fear not, there are not a lot of techies here, and the list is fairly obtuse (biomed. engineering, electronics, medical, information/computer science, mathematics, engineering, alternative structure/energy).
The first time I saw that Indian Jones movie, it took me back to a hole-in-the-road village in the midwest, on the day the good townspeople decided to "purify" the school and library bookshelves. That was 1971.
"Objects in mirror are closer than they appear..."
*whup* "Get along, little electrons. Heeyah!"
People keep saying the plastic tubs are sealed. Look more closely and you'll find many of them have a few holes, often near the handles. The lids close more easily that way, although nothing damp inside will dry quickly enough to avoid mildew. And there is a chance that bugs can get in -- a few mothballs may persuade them otherwise (do mothballs bother silverfish?).
And print a bar code for each box and put it on the outside, perhaps on both a wide and narrow side to make it easier to have one visible. Then when you're looking for a box you have the choice of reading the list, reading the code printed under your barcode, or scanning boxes until your laptop beeps that you found the box that you were looking for. [Well, maybe by the time you're looking for a book you'll have a wearable instead of a laptop...]