Home libraries have been beloved by many – including Belle of Beauty and the Beast fame and the third US President Thomas Jefferson, who once told his friend John Adams “I cannot live without books”. Luckily, building your own home library is easier than you might think.
There are quite a few good reasons for you to go down this path – besides, of course, making it easier for you to regularly sate your literary side. Here are some of the most compelling incentives.
You can build your home library almost anywhere in your home
Fortunately, books aren’t exactly as taxing to store as, say, food or computer data. For this reason, many different parts of your home can serve as suitable settings for your home library. Nonetheless, there are a few exceptions outlined by the HowStuffWorks website.
Those exceptions include spaces bathed in natural light, which would be harmful to books. Therefore, you probably shouldn’t build your home library in a room with large windows. Conversely, though, you shouldn’t necessarily start looking at the basement, as it could be prone to flooding.
An attic can be a good place for a home library, provided the space isn’t too humid and, thus, likely to attract mould and insects. Instaloft provides a great loft boarding service with which you can help to regulate the attic’s temperature by making sure you don’t have to remove insulation.
There are many exciting design possibilities
What will your home library look like? In truth, that’s largely up to you. Maybe you would like to go for a full-blown Disney tribute by rendering your library barely distinguishable from Belle’s. Alternatively, you could take inspiration from several exciting ideas shared by The Spruce.
To that end, you could hang up some artwork – after all, the libraries you’ve visited probably aren’t entirely shorn of artistic touches like this – or use wrap-around shelving so that you are making the very best use of bookshelf space. You could even arrange shelves in a floor-to-ceiling fashion.
Of course, if you do make this decision, or even remove a ceiling so that your home library’s bookshelves can span two stories, you should think carefully about how you will access those books kept on the highest levels. You don’t want the style to entirely trump practicality.
Your children could grow up with enhanced literacy and numeracy
Picture the scene: you meet someone special with whom you share a literary passion, the two of you fall in love and, soon, kids are on the way. Giving your children free rein in your home library can do much more than just occupy them on rainy days; it can also enhance your kids’ development.
In a wide-reaching study mentioned by The Guardian in 2018 and led by Australian National University’s Dr Joanna Sikora, researchers found that children who grew up with home libraries at close hand saw increased literacy and numeracy levels – as long as the library contained at least 80 books. Therefore, you shouldn’t be shy about generously stocking up in your own home library. Don’t underestimate the importance of baby’s first library.
