Books open your mind, broaden your mind, and strengthen you as nothing else can".―William Feather Reading is a great hobby, but often avid readers tend to keep buying books without maintaining a proper storage place for these books. Well, if you are a book lover and have a huge collection of precious books at home, you obviously cannot have them lying anywhere and everywhere around the house. A proper library shelf is a must if you are hoping to create a book collection at home. How to Arrange Books on Shelves Choose a Proper Storage Shelf/Cabinet Although storing books in an open rack is convenient, a closed shelf or a cabinet protects your book and prevents the dust from settling on it. Hence, always choose a library shelf that provides protection to your cherished possessions. If you are one of those people who love to look at their book collection every now and then, and, of course, show it off, then you need a see-through shelf. A see-through shelf looks quite stylish and elegant, however, it requires proper cleaning and maintenance. If possible, get a shelf that has a sturdy basic wooden structure, and elegant glass doors to provide a view of the book collection. Leave Room for More The storage space of the library shelf is of utmost importance. Do not buy a rack that is too small or too large for your book collection. Before buying a bookshelf or a library shelf, see to it that the storage capacity is enough for both, your existing collection and the future additions. You can have a library shelf that has an adjustable storage space, which can be increased according to your requirements. Categorize your Books Always keep your library shelf well-organized. You can categorize your books according to any criteria of preference. Although categorizing the books according to their size might be a convenient option for storage, it is definitely inconvenient while you are looking up books of the same category. Categorize the books according the genres like fiction, non-fiction, poetry, biographies, history, and so on. In case you have an extensive collections of specific authors, you can have categories according to the authors, and make a miscellaneous category for the remaining new additions. Another option is to make categories according to the time period. For example, you can have separate categories for really old books and the latest books. In case you are a moody reader like me, you can make categories like favorites, light reading, serious-reading, reference books, and so on. Organizing the Books This is a library-shelving tip that will surely help you keep your library shelf organized. This is what you need to do―once you are done categorizing your books, decide which cabinet you are going to store them in and for every row, number the books by sticking numbered stickers on them. Have a list of every shelf/category, and stick it on the inside of the cabinet or maintain a record book for these lists. This way you can immediately know if one of the books is missing and every book will have a specific place in the cabinet so it will be easy to locate it as well.