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HanSeoHeeShotFirst t1_ix2n37t wrote

Reply to comment by CraftyRole4567 in Best way to display books, while also protecting them? by slaney0

Is it okay to stack hardcovers / store them on their sides?

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CraftyRole4567 t1_ix3paxp wrote

The advice is that it will damage the bindings. How quickly it will damage the bindings will depend on the book, on how the binding is made, and on how much weight is on top of it. Books are designed to be stored vertically.

And in my experience, considering the size of most hardcovers, if you’re stacking them horizontally you’d have to have a pretty tall stack to actually save space over having them be vertical.

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HanSeoHeeShotFirst t1_ixfp2uq wrote

Thank you! I inherited some coffee table art books that are too tall for any of my shelves. Thank you for letting me know I should get them in a better situation asap

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CraftyRole4567 t1_ixhq5a3 wrote

I’m about to shoot myself in the foot… Coffee table art books are sometimes designed to be laid out horizontally. (This also applies to large art folios if anyone has those.) They have sturdier bindings and covers with the assumption that they may be lying flat for long periods of time. The key here is not to stack too many of them because of their weight— the bottom one might deform. But two or three out where you can see them – they are meant to be displayed/stacked that way! :)

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[deleted] t1_ix75fto wrote

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CraftyRole4567 t1_ix83oih wrote

Heavens forfend, no, please don’t do that. Take a hardcover and really look at it. You have two weightbearing stiff boards, a softer and more flexible non-weightbearing piece (the spine) joining them, usually paper that is simply glued in creating a cradle in there, and then the pages are attached to the spine/paper with glue. If you put it in the way I think you’re talking about, the weight of the pages is going to be pressing down on the flexible spine/glue. The only faster way to destroy it would be – before someone asks – to store it with its spine facing upward and the pages pointing down with the glue taking all their weight.

More simply: books are designed to be stored vertically with their spine facing out. That’s how they’re supposed to stand. They’re only made for that.

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[deleted] t1_ix8m83d wrote

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CraftyRole4567 t1_ix92see wrote

If you’re storing it vertically slightly open, yes. But if you’re storing it vertically packed in with other books, with maybe a nice bookend to tuck it up tight, the boards are actually holding up the pages. Hold your phone between your hands, slight pressure on either side… you can see that takes the full weight with no extra “pull” exerted elsewhere.

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[deleted] t1_ix953qb wrote

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CraftyRole4567 t1_ix9mn27 wrote

You do you! There is a reason that millions of librarians over hundreds of years have gone for vertical, but if you keep them clamped tight enough and somehow support them all every single time you want to take a book out, yes, I suppose you can store them spine up. Good luck with that!

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[deleted] t1_ix9tmjf wrote

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CraftyRole4567 t1_ixa59lp wrote

You should ask the library of Congress. They have a helpline where you can submit questions, and I bet they can get you an expert archivist in the history of books who can give you a much better answer than I ever could!

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