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Confessions of a makeshift bookender

(anyone want a statue of Confucius?)
by quinnsmom
December 14, 2004
This morning I took a tour of all of the bookshelves in my house for the sole purpose of examining what I am currently using for bookends. Among other things, I found a flowerpot, a pillar candle, stacks of books laying horizontally, an old, out-of -service electric pencil sharpener, a cast-iron Japanese teapot, a foot-high statue of Confucius (a present from my mother-in-law), and my personal favorite, a ceramic brontosaurus my daughter made six years ago in fourth grade. All have served their purpose nobly, but I’m ready to jazz up my shelves and get some real bookends. Up to now, like a lot of people, I thought bookends were a luxury – I mean, really, why buy real ones when you can use a statue of Confucius for the same purpose?

Bookends have been around since the Renaissance. The increase in book printing required better methods of safety, storage & preservation, leading to books being stacked vertically. Bookends keep shelves looking neat, preserve your books, and serve a decorative purpose. If you’re like me, you cherish your books not only for what lies between the covers but also for their keepsake value. A set or two of nice bookends add to the visual display and make for a great decorating tool. Some are collectible, some are pieces of art. They provide you with the opportunity to inject your personality into a room, while from a practical standpoint, they help to preserve your books. When you’re not reading them, keeping them between bookends helps to prevent book covers from becoming deformed, as they might when stacked horizontally. Also, using a ceramic dinosaur isn’t exactly the greatest tool for holding books in place where you want them. It is definitely better to arrange books so they are next to each other just tightly enough to keep them upright, but not so tight as to invite damage when you remove them.
I discovered on my little shelf tour today that many of my books are leaning, and which may also cause books to become deformed.

I decided that since bookends serve a dual purpose of decoration and book preservation, I can justify the expense. There’s one more reason, as bookcrossers, to replace your makeshift bookends with real ones, and that is that while your shelves may be full now, as you release, trade, RABCK or donate the books you’ve read, the books on your shelves will dwindle, leaving you with some free space. It’s much better just to slide that bookend over than to let the books fall and knock over your flowerpot and maybe break it! I have lost many a makeshift bookend due to the law of gravity. Don’t let this happen to you! Take advantage of the great selection of bookends being offered by PhotoFrames. You can support your books while supporting Bookcrossing!!

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