There are so many great ways to store children’s books! Whether you’re looking to tidy up your living room, or you’re packing away some seasonal Christmas picture books for next year, we’ve got the perfect solution.
If you’re trying to figure out how to store kids’ books the first thing you need to decide on is whether you’re storing them short term or long term. Is this storage solution going to keep your books together and available for daily use? Or maybe you’re packing away books your kids aren’t reading right now or want for another special season (like Christmas) and you’re not ready to part with. This article is broken down into two sections: short term and long term storage.
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Once you decide how you’d like to store kids books, you might want to learn how to organize them too! Check out this article on how to organize kids books into different helpful categories and display them nicely.
Table of Contents:
- Short Term Book Storage
- Long Term Book Storage
- Plastic Totes
- Cardboard Boxes
- Tips
Short Term Book Storage
Let’s take a look at short term kids’ book storage first. These options are great for when you’re trying to store kids’ books for daily use. A few things to consider are the number of books you’re trying to store and the age of the children who are going to be using the books. The age and reading level of your children matters because they need to be able to reach the book shelves themselves, and identify which books they are interested in grabbing.
Wall Shelf
There are several types of wall shelves that could work really well for you depending on how many books you’d like to store on them, and whether you’d like to see the front cover of the books, or the spine of the books when you’re looking at them.
One of the very best options for young children is to store their books on a wall shelf with the cover facing out at a height they will be able to reach themselves. Young children won’t be able to read the spine of a book, so storing it in a way they can recognize the front cover and reach for whatever they’d like to flip through is so helpful for them.
A great way to make a cheap DIY shelf that stores a few board books at your young child’s eye level, is to use Ikea spice racks. There are also a few brands of book shelves on Amazon like this one is similar to what I used in my son’s bedroom to keep a few of his favourite books around for bedtime reading.
You can also use a picture ledge like you can see in this photo, of my kid’s play room. It can look great to put a lot of books on display like this on your entire wall instead of using artwork. And you can change it seasonally with your favorite books from your book collection or library books.
You can also use a classic wall shelf with a bookend to keep your books from falling off the shelf if you have an older child. Young children might be tempted to pull the entire stack of books right off the wall. Simple shelves like this are good for older kids who can reach higher up on the wall.
Bookcase
A bookcase is a great storage solution option for kids’ books if you have a lot of them. Typically you’ll store kids’ books in a bookcase with the spine of the book facing outwards where you can see it.
A simple trick you’ll see used at book stores and libraries that use this style of shelf to store huge quantities of kids books, is to rotate one or two covers outward to catch your attention. If you’d like your bookcase to look more enticing to children, you can try using this trick in your little home library. A book case is a great idea to store chapter books for older children because the spine faces outwards and they’re already reading the titles of the books themselves.
Book Box
A book box is just as it sounds, it’s a nice little box of books. This can be a great solution for a reading nook or corner in your home, when you don’t want to put permanent holes in your walls. It’s also a fun solution for a selection of books that may move around your home, depending on what’s going on in your space.
A book box or a book basket is a great idea for very small children. It’s not heavy enough to do any damage if it gets pulled over, and it’s not as enticing for a toddler to try and climb as a bookcase might be. Wire baskets and wooden crates can be cute ways to stash a box of books in your space without compromising on decor. It’s also a nice idea for a child’s bedroom to store some bedtime stories next to their bed instead of having piles of books right on the floor where they can be knocked over and stepped on.
If you’re a crafty person, you may be interested in making your own custom book box! Check out this great tutorial on how to sew a fabric basket to learn all about it!
Cubby Cubes
Cubby cubes are great for kids’ book storage alongside their other toys. If you have a few books you’d like to keep tidy, just dedicate an entire cubby cube to them away from the other toys you’ve got, for a clean look.
This can be helpful for kids of all ages to store a few books within easy reach; even when my youngest pulls out every book in a cubby cube, there’s not too much to clean up when he’s done. Or you can use more than one cube of your storage cubby to store tons of books alongside your toy storage.
Magazine Style Rack
A magazine style rack is another great book storage option that stores them with their covers facing forwards. You can typically store a good number of books in a spot like this, just make sure they don’t get too cluttered, which can lead to damage. I love the way a magazine style book rack looks in a small space where you’re creating a reading nook for little hands to reach themselves. It’s a great option for little kids who aren’t reading many words on their own yet because they can see the front covers.
Book Sling
My biggest tip when using a book sling is to make sure the spines of your kids books are facing UP. There’s nothing worse than digging around searching for something instead of being easily able to read the spine to find it.
A book sling can be a great addition to a small space because you can store so many books without taking up too much space. This option also keeps books within reach of little hands.
Book Caddy
A book caddy is sort of like a bookshelf on wheels! This can be a great way to store books that you’d like to move around your space. Because the sides of a storage caddy have tall walls, they can be used to store toys alongside the books.
Another type of book caddy sort of looks like an ‘X’ or a baby doll bassinet. It’s great for storing a small number of books with their spines facing up so they can rest in the sort of ‘V’ shaped nook the caddy creates.
Back of Door Book Storage
One last creative way to store kids books in a tight space is to use an organizer like this back of door storage container on Amazon.
A hanging wall organizer that fits on the back of a door is a helpful way to keep your kids’ books together in a child’s bedroom. You could put it on a closet door or the back of their bedroom door. Put things that are used less often at the top where it would be harder to reach unless your child is old enough to have a step stool in his or her room and use it on their own.
Long Term Book Storage
The big thing to remember when you’re storing your books long term is to keep them dry. You could even use a couple silica packets in your book storage container if you’re seriously concerned about humidity damaging your books.
I also recommend using plastic totes or plastic book bins instead of cardboard. Plastic is usually more effective at keeping pests out of your belongings.
Cardboard boxes are another option if you’re able to store your books in a climate controlled area where you’re not concerned about pests getting to them. If you’re storing your books long term in cardboard, I recommend checking on them more frequently to make sure they’re still safe.
Some tips for long term book storage are to keep your books bundled together in a useful way. For instance, if you’re storing seasonal books away like books about spring, or holiday books about Christmas, keep them grouped together for next year. If you have a set of kids’ chapter books you can store them grouped by author, or in alphabetical order, or by category.
I hope you’ve got some great new book storage ideas you can use to store your pile of books at home! There are so many creative ways to store your child’s books for the short term and long term.
If you’d like some ideas about how to organize your kids books once you’ve decided on a storage solution check out this article.
If you’re looking for more kids books to build your library with check out these book lists!
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