Merry Christmas to all our readers

And look out for news of a new bookish book by the author of Bookshelf next year...

Shelfies

A pleasant collection of readers' shelves at The Guardian.

Library chair

Bespoke commission to design and make a chair to accommodate books. Made of solid maple with veneered curved sides. Beeswax finish.
Jim Bennett

Eroded bookshelf and coffee table

The eroded series of objects have been inspired by the natural process of Erosion – where a solid material like stone gets eaten away by an exogenic process like wind flow or water flow. This eating away not only results in changing the quality of the solid object (like smoothness or exposing the internal quality of the element) but also leads to the formation of surfaces and pockets that then become suitable for a different kind of inhabitation.This concept has been developed as a series of objects.
IM Lab

Alpacbeto

Give your books an original and dynamic arrangement: with Alpacbeto you can compose your own bookcase thanks to the honeycomb cardboard modules in the shape of letters. Choose the letters to compose a word or short message and place your books in the natural concave of the letters.
The Alpacbeto letters are also available in brown and black.
Designer: Fabio Biavaschi
Glook at lovli.it

Twist me!

In its side walls there are placed aluminium bearings joint with a wooden nut from the press. By turning the nut, the inner “walls”, are brought into motion and this way they can be positioned against one another, thereby creating space for any number of books. These can be fixed by sufficient pressing and library can be carrying even without emptying the bookcase.
Mejdstudio

BookBenches project

A new public art project will see benches shaped as open books. The benches - to be placed across London - will include one based on Michael Rosen's We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, another on J M Barrie's Peter Pan and a third on Kenneth Graeme's Wind in the Willows. The so-called "BookBenches" will be designed by international and local artists, and aim to promote reading for enjoyment and to celebrate stories linked to the capital.
The Bookseller

Shelfies

New column in The Independent Magazine

Serpentin

Serpentin is a very simple library play : an oak bar rhythmed by perpendicular bars on which the books of any size will be supported. A clever way to store books and to decorate its walls. Material: Oak, red, gray, white or black.
Thibault Pougeoise

Minimal Bookshelf

A minimal bookshelf with gaps at both ends. Slot a book in and it acts as a bookend. Chan Hwee Chong

REK bookcase junior

A scaled-down version of REK bookcase. Like the original REK, the five parts can be pushed in or pulled out to position them according to the space needed. Entirely made of poplar plywood.  The wood is finished with an organic linseed oil wax.
Reinier de Jong

Bookshelf Silk Tie

An image straight from the shelves of The Bodleian Library printed onto this natty tie. The Literary Gift Company

Mitt Romney's new hidden 'bookshelf-door' room

"The front door of Mitt Romney’s soon to be constructed Hollady house opens to a massive living room, and to your left, around the fireplace, lies a study. If you look closely at the bookshelves there, you find something interesting: a secret door. The second bookshelf from the far wall is really a door that swivels out to reveal a hidden room... The architectural drawings say it’s for "office storage." It measures 11 feet long and is lined with cabinets. The "hidden door," as it’s labeled on the documents, is masked as a bookshelf and swings into the study."

Salt Lake Tribune

Bloomberg's Billy Bookcase Index

"Bloomberg’s annual Billy index shows that the Swedish furniture chain’s signature bookcase remains cheapest in Europe with a price of 34.95 euros ($46.48) in Slovakia and the Netherlands. The Dominican Republic topped the list, which is based on the 2014 catalog on Ikea’s website, with a price of 3,995 pesos ($94.72). The bookshelf costs $59.99 in the U.S. and 349 yuan ($57) in China...
 
"For next year, the average cost globally is $58.93, little changed from $59.35 in the 2013 catalog. In local currency, the bookcase’s price only changed in eight countries. It was cut in the Dominican Republic and parts of Australia and increased in Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Netherlands, which saw the biggest percentage change at 17%...

"For 2014, the difference between the costliest and the least expensive bookcase was $48.24, down from $72.14 in 2013."
Bloomberg

Nuage

 

The basic components are the wooden oak shelves and vertical elements in aluminium which has been anodised or painted black. Five dierent heights studied in order to best organise various formats of objects and books. Each composition can be embellished with accessories such as aluminium trays and sliding trays, which are functional and removable, Available in the colours: red, black, yellow. The sliding panels of the bookcases can be in anodized aluminium or painted in red, blue, green, yellow, grey, white or black.
Charlotte Perriand for Cassina

Fake bookshelf lavatory

Sublabh International Museum of Toilets, New Delhi, India.

Build Me Up

Bookcase inspired by building architecture. It reflects the process and the impossibility of putting any end to this process, which is found in urban environment. This idea is applied to the interior, which undergoes similar never ending transformation in building one’s individual environment. The bookcase design is thus based upon a worker figurine, caught in the moment of finishing the ‘wall’ of this product. Design by: Štefan Nosko Photo: Allt
Mejd Studio

Soft Cabinet Green

A cabinet that moves sidewards, right or left, depending on the volume inside the cabinet. Put it next to a wall or another cabinet and fill the cabinet with your stuff. Watch how the cabinet forms and becomes an unique model.
Dewi van der Klomp

Bookends shelving

This body of work explores the structural and visual qualities of the bookend. Each artwork in these series utilize color, collection, and arrangement to highlight the unique possibilities of these utilitarian objects. A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of these works is donated to public libraries nationwide. On show at Central Branch Library, Madison.
Niki Johnson

Book headboard

The new apartment was still feeling a little empty and un-lived in so Simon and I set about on this fun little project! It took as about 4 days to put it all together but most that time was spent sourcing the materials so if you were smart about it (and know where to get things – unlike us) then you could do it in a day easy.

Design Every Day

Red balance bookshelf

A wall mounted bookshelf that helps you visualize your stack of read books vs. unread books; motivation to get some reading done. Each shelf is hand made to order in Brooklyn, NY. Constructed of red painted steel pipe fittings, dark walnut stained pine wood shelves, and black acrylic twine.Accommodates approximately 5-10 average sized books on each shelf.

Cush Design Studio

Chuck

A shelving system made up of flexible wooden planks that is adapting to the objects it preserves and displays. Chuck consists of six wooden planks with two stainless steel locking collars placed at the ends. Chuck allows to experience intermediate room, to exploit the possibilities of the elements and to design individual room. The planks of wood can be lifted separately in order to display your favorite items. Depending on the quantity when filled, the planks stretch out and the wall shelf takes on a different shape. The result is an intriguing interaction of flexibility and stability, a structure of waves that rise and fall which easily creates room for all of your favourite items.
Material: plywood, stainless steel. Natascha Harra-Frischkorn

Uno

Стильная тумба из натурального дерева ручной работы. Может служить вместилищем разных полезных мелочей: книг и журналов, ваз с цветами, фотографий в рамке, будильников и симпатичных безделушек. Украшает помещение, придаёт ему более оригинальный вид.
Field & Rage

Robox: robot bookshelf

A library, a man-sized robot, a beautiful and distant childhood memory made real, a “new household hero”, created by Fabio Novembre. Robox embraces all these definitions and lends itself easily to satisfy a variety of uses. This new design by Fabio Novembre is open to multiple interpretations adding to and personalizing its meaning and value. This anthropomorphic bookshelf animates the space it occupies, with its bright red heart, ROBOX is exactly the same height as the designer who created it. Dimensions L/W 78 P/D 31 H 184
Casamania

Star Wars Millennium Falcon Bookcase

Whittled in Wood

Book Ends

Bu kitaplık görevini tam anlamıyla yerine getiriyor. Okurken kaldığınız yeri hatırlatıyor, bittiğinde sizin için arşivliyor. Bir kitaplıktan başka ne istenir ki?
Mert Gutav/Decause and here

Niño: gingerbread man bookcase

Henrique Steyer

Book van

Mobile bookshop

Tell a Story

Why hotels need bookshelves

Some hotels are giving the humble book another look, as they search for ways to persuade guests, particularly younger ones, to spend more time in their lobbies and bars. They are increasingly stocking books in a central location, designating book suites or playing host to author readings. While the trend began at boutique hotels like the Library Hotel in New York, the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Ore., and the Study at Yale in New Haven, it is expanding to chain hotels. 

More at The New York Times

OpenBook

The OpenBook is a seat and a library that celebrates the printed form. Its design represents an evolution from TILT’s original Library Chair which itself was designed for a Grade II listed building where shelving for books could not be installed so instead the books were incorporated into the chair design. It is a comfortable reading space for those wanting a quieter moment, while also a showcase for books and magazines of any size and shape. At the same time the chair was to be open, exposing the user to others within the space allowing for serendipitous interaction. The OpenBook Chair has a fully upholstered interior, including an upholstered side panel, offering additional comfort and sound insulation. Studio Tilt

Rain bookshelf

Artem Zigert

Level

The shelf is divided in two parts enabling communication between these. So that the product becomes a mutable object. This adapts and changes its shape depending on the content in it. By putting books in a category, that becomes bigger allowing to store more books. Through this function, the product allows us to use different sections as comparators. We know, for example, who reads more books. Or what kind of books are the ones that you read more as it always displays the amount of books in each.

Behind the product lies a message that comes once the user has used the shelf. Through its function, the object aims to bring users to the three main socializing agents; individuals, institutions and information. When someone uses the shelf to see who reads more books, it creates a relationship between people who, even in person or not, becomes a link between individuals. Something similar happens when splitting our books by type or theme. The shelf reveals the institution that we’re closer. And, always, refers to information because it represents an indication of the level of information consumed.

Roger Moliné

Chevron

A stacking, modular shelf made from four pieces of precision milled Birch-ply. The shelves can be used as a single unit for magazines, books and files, or stacked in several configurations. The maximum spine length for stacking is 117mm.

Henry Wilson

Tab

A bookcase with four sliding tabs (vertical panels) which allows the user to organize books in various ways. By repositioning tabs, zones for different types of books can be created. At the same time, it will naturally create various looks depending on the placement you choose.
EJ

Penguin book covers wallpaper

The PENGUIN LIBRARY wallpaper is a collage of front covers of those iconic early paperbacks from this famous publishing house and includes Ariel, the very first Penguin paperback published in 1935. The book covers were chosen for their diversity of colour and to illustrate the breadth of Penguin’s publishing backlist. Great care was taken in the design to truly represent the original paperbacks in all their, sometimes well-read and a little worn, glory. The resulting PENGUIN LIBRARY wallpaper is a glorious colourful ‘conversational piece’ which we hope will be received with as much affection as the books themselves.
Osborne & Little

Prime Minister David Cameron on bookshelves

Daily Mail

Fusillo

An artisanal wooden bookshelf made of modular elements. All the modules are designed to rotate around a central axis providing support for the books. The bottom part can be used as an hanging device. Multiple shelves can be endlessly combined to customise your space.Fusillo comes in 3 versions: solid oak, glossy and opaque white lacquered MDF.
Andviceversa

Hotel libraries

"A decent library can mark a hotel out from its competitors, give it a nicely intellectual feel, and supply guests with another reason to stay in and buy a drink. It is perhaps a shame when hotels decide that a task as fun and indeed personal as choosing their libraries' contents should not be done in-house by someone familiar with the locale. But swankier operations may be nervous about choosing inappropriately and tainting their brand, and anyway they may not have a bookworm on staff. Thus it becomes sensible to invest a bit of money—up to $30,000 in some cases—to ensure a bit of professional nous is applied to the selection. Those hotels that use the Ultimate Library's services do not necessarily let Mr Blackwell’s team get on with the job unimpeded. “With one hotel,” he says, “we had to come up with 150 books and justify each one.” The Economist