10 Helpful Tips for Packing Books

Building up an impressive book collection is just one of the many joys of being a reader—until it’s time to move, that is. While it might seem as simple as just hauling out the biggest box you can find and filling it to the brim, packing books requires a lot more forethought than that. You’ll need to go into the process with a strategy that helps you move your books both efficiently and safely, particularly when it comes to your own risk of personal injury. And we’ve got some tips that can help.

Why packing books correctly is important

When we think of the most difficult items to pack up before a move, the first things that come to mind are usually items that are fragile, sharp, or oddly shaped (and don’t even get us started on boxing up the kitchen).

Books are none of these things, so why are they so difficult to pack? Well, although an individual book is light, compact, and far from fragile, a stack of books is actually quite heavy and unruly—and a box of books even more so. If your plan is just to unload your entire bookcase into a couple of moving boxes, you’ll end up with an overly hefty box that’s a real—and literal—pain to carry. It can also cause damage to your other belongings if it happens to fall over during transport.

A better way to go about it is to pack up your books correctly, using tried-and-true methods ironed out by book lovers before you. Here’s what to know about packing books, including our best tips for getting your entire collection from your old home to your new one.

Before you tackle that bookcase, read through these helpful tips for packing books and plot out your next steps from there (pun intended).