Moving with a large library?

Hi folks,

I figured this would be the best place to ask this since so many of us have overflowing bookshelves. We're looking into moving cross-country sometime within the next year. I have over 400 books. Most of these are keepers, and the ones that aren't will either be sold on Amazon Marketplace or put on BookMooch, but I'll still have hundreds of books going with me. Has anyone here had experience with moving long distances with lots of books? Any tips or suggestions? I have family at my destination, so I would be able to send books to them via Media Mail, which may be more affordable than packing them in the U-Haul.

My wife and I just packed up our 1500 titles in boxes and threw them into the UHaul, they fill boxes nice and they stack really well.

I am moving with a lot of books, but not nearly as far as you are! The biggest thing is to make sure you don't make any individual box too heavy, but you won't be able to do that with mailing anyway, I wouldn't think. I just got small storage boxes from Office Max.

The nice thing about moving books is that they are relatively straightforward to pack and unpack. And, you get to re-think how you want to shelve them, which is always fun!

ETA: I would think it would be cheaper to go ahead and throw them in the Uhaul, since you will have that anyway. Good luck with the move!

Yes, packing them in the U-Haul will be much cheaper and easier than shipping them -- 400 books is only a couple of dozen boxes, and book boxes are nice and compact and easy to stack in the truck compared to most things.

Good luck with the move!

400 is a large library? I'm moving with about 4,000! (yes, there's a few not in the catalog yet) but luckily, I'm moving across town instead of cross country, and I can to it a half-dozen boxes or so at a time. I'm hoping to have it whittled down to about half that before I have to move again, though.

I do recommend that, if you have a source, you collect the boxes that reams of paper come in for offices. They're sturdy, easily stackable, and just the right size for books (of all kinds), since they're designed to be carried while packed solid with paper. Especially worth it if you might be leaving them in boxes for awhile. One of those boxes will hold about 30 hardcovers or 50 paperbacks, with minimum wasted space, so you'd probably only need ten or so. Ten neatly stacked paper boxes take up suprisingly little space in the back of a U-haul.

And take advantage of LT's power edit to keep track of where things are. (I'm using the moving process as an opportunity to check and fix all my covers, too.)

My last two moves had quite a few books and these moves were both pre-LT so I did not have them organized. I packed boxes by fitting books in according to their sizes and shapes. I enthusiastically agree that you should pack boxes not too heavy.

It may be a while before you find the time to unpack so if you can put a piece of paper with an inventory on the box. I know that seems like over-kill but it will make it really easy when you need that one certain book before they are all unpacked.

Also, if you can use your LT inventory to pack books along your organizing principles - what a treat it will be to unpack.

Good luck. And just remember it all is just one step at a time and eventually the whole journey will be complete.

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! My only concern with packing them in the U-Haul is the weight. I googled some cross-country moving tips and just about every article warns against moving with lots of books, but they were obviously not written by bibliophiles!

I've moved a lot of times with a huge library, including halfway around the world (now *that* was ludicrously expensive). I strongly agree with the "small boxes" advice (if moving yourself, I suggest going to a bookstore and asking for their old book boxes - naturally the perfect size - this has often worked for me). Putting a layer of bubble wrap around the inside edges of the box helps prevent some of the worst of the wear and tear. And I also second that a list of what's in each box is invaluable for finding your books 6 months after the move when you still haven't unpacked yet - now that I have LT, I just add a tag (e.g. attic box 1) to each book in my database and number the box accordingly (awesome!). I've moved far more than 400 books in a u-haul.

Oh, it didn't even occur to me to ask for boxes at the bookstore. That would be perfect! Thanks!

I'll definitely be utilizing the tag system so I can get my books organized and unpacked quickly. It won't feel like home until I have some books on my shelves!

400? Pah, that's nothing. Box 'em up and throw 'em in the truck. I think the advice against moving with "lots" of books is (1) talking about more than that and (2) just warning you that books are heavy, and that if you hire movers they may badly underestimate the weight (and thus the cost).

The one word of advice I'd give is: Use small boxes. No, smaller than that. Paper-ream boxes are right on the edge of being too big to really carry comfortably, IMO, especially if stairs are involved. Anything bigger than that is absolutely too heavy.

(Moved with 2000+ books two years ago.)

I agree that paper ream boxes are too big. I like 12 pack beer sized boxes. Small! If you have a weight lifter helping you move, he/she can carry two at a time.

The best boxes come from the liquor store. They have to be sturdy because of the weight of the bottles and to protect the glass. Therefore, they are also a manageable size. Usually they are free. Our liquor stores stack them on their dock for the taking because they are so popular with movers and it's certainly a lot cheaper and more convenient for them to have somebody take them away than crushing them for recycling.

Paper Ream boxes are ideal. They are a good size for all but the largest books, they have a nice lid which slides on and off easily, and they stack uniformly.

Last moved 1200+ books.

I just moved a similar number of books, and I can't emphasize the small boxes point enough! My husband just went and asked for used shipping boxes at supermarkets and such - the best ones for books were used to transport hash-browns, and were slightly smaller than office paper boxes. Good luck with your move, and remember to look forward to the fun of opening all your book boxes up again!

I have used paper ream boxes for several moves, but only one of those moves involved a big van. For one local move, I loaded several boxes in my car each time I went to the new place. I am not hugely muscular, and I had no problem lifting these boxes or carrying them up and down stairs.

I grouped similar books together, and labeled each box on both ends and top of the lid, so I could easily determine the contents without opening the box. I didn't bother with a detailed packing list - just short descriptions like "Books - US history 2 of 5" or "Books - Easton Press A-C".

As several others have suggested, this would be a good time to think about how you want your books organized at your new home. And using tags on LT to track the storage box and/or destination of each box is a great idea.

You lot who think paper-ream boxes are too big are *weak*. I used them when I moved (admittedly only a small part) of my library to a third-floor walk-up, and I have spaghetti arms!

Okay, another book box suggestion is stop by your local comic book store on a Tuesday and ask them to save the boxes for you the next morning - new comics come in on Wednesday, so they will have lots of empty Diamond boxes every Wednesday afternoon. They're ~ 11x17x8, good for lots of book sizes, small enough that I can carry *three* no problem but large enough for a good number of paperbacks, and they store flat.

//has just moved in with managers of local comic shop.

And yes, tagging things with box numbers has been great. (They re-instated power edit tags just for me to move! Or at least I like to pretend they did. Because I whined about it a lot.)

I ordered boxes from usedcardboardboxes.com. I recommend getting medium boxes and only filling them up about 0.75 of the way.

Moving companies often have used boxes for sale at half or less the cost of new ones and they have a size that is called book pack. The used copy paper boxes are even better. All the same size helps enormously in fitting them into the truck. Last moved about 6000 books plus many periodicals. That was when we bought a cheap dolly but they can also be rented from U-haul if reserved early enough.

Moving companies don't like books cos they think they are heavy. Don't let a moving company pack your books - I did last time and wished I hadn't as they got them all diagnonal or pushed down in on each other!

Nthing small boxes, more small is better than fewer big. Put a big one flat on the bottom then small ones spine up.

Good luck! Oh - and you can justify unpacking them first because the books outside the bookcases takes up twice as much space as the books inside the bookcases!

Msg 16: it is true. I am much more weak now than when I was younger. I am 63 and still am strong enough to live independently. (-; But after two hip replacements and one foot remodelling I am not as athletic as I was at a younger age. However, I can still hold a book up and read. Lucky me.

Weak is not a bad thing; it is just a description. And remember....everyone either gets older (and sometimes weaker) or not. I prefer weak to the "not".

I wouldn't trust my books to Media Mail. How many of us have had books lost/mutilated/befouled using this method? I did once have a professor who moved from Alaska to the lower 48 using Media Mail. She'd pack all of her stuff, then toss in a couple books.

>20 maggie1944: : You're right, I was being a bit too judgemental there, wasn't I? (I meant it as kidding, honest, but of course one needs to be careful about that online. I am still feeling burned from when I helped one of my friends move this summer, and the garbage bag he casually gave me to carry turned out to be holding about ten gallons of loose change. If you think books are heavy---!)

Most persons whose bodies still function as advertised, even if (like me) they aren't muscle-y at all, should be able to carry a full paper ream box a reasonable distance. But not everybody has the same physical capabilities, (regardless of age!) and I should get better at remembering that.

....though I must admit that if any of my various friends and relations who have had joint replacements were moving, I would do my darndest to make sure they didn't end up carrying *any* boxes of books at all. (And in fact I actually earned my new hand-me-down bookcases by helping a friend who broke her hip and isn't allowed to risk stairs anymore move out of her basement. That was fun. We had to disassemble doorframes to get the furniture out!)

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions! I'm definitely going to hit up the liquor store for boxes, they've been a great source for boxes in the past. I never would have thought to ask a comic shop, though, and there's one not far from me. (I also have a graphic novel I want to pick up so this works out nicely.)

There's absolutely no way I'm going to let movers pack my books. I am so fussy about my book collection. I'll be packing them myself with lots of padding so they don't get damaged. My signed books will be coming with me in whatever vehicle I'm in. It's looking more like we'll hire movers to take the furniture, then go cross-country in an RV with the cats and my most-treasured books. (I so wish I'd been picked for that Queen of the Road book that was on Early Reviewers last month!)

I do have chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, so everything I pack is going to have to be light. Twenty pounds is the maximum I can lift at this point. Sad considering I used to lug 40 pound bags of mulch around like they were nothing!

I'm really glad to hear that so many of you have moved with larger libraries. I'm going to try not to buy many more books over the next few months (We're moving in the spring) but honestly, I'm a bookworm. There's no way I'm not going to buy books over the next six months. I went to the bookstore today just to pick up a copy of The Gargoyle and I came home with four other books. It would have been more than that if I'd had more time to browse! It's an independent bookstore...I couldn't leave without throwing a bit of business their way! Right?

16>

Or maybe we're small women, and don't have a lot of upper-body strength.

Or maybe we're older, likewise.

I can carry a full paper-ream box, sure. What I can't do, not without a lot of effort, is carry a couple dozen of them down a couple flights of stairs, into the moving van, stack them above my head, and then unload them and repeat in reverse at the other end. It's faster, easier, and more efficient to use smaller boxes. And since unlike you I apparently don't have to prove how macho I am by how much I can lift at once, I'd rather go for the fast, easy, and efficient method. My big male friends can take two smaller boxes at once if they've got something to prove, but my slightly built female friends can't exactly take only half of a big box if it's too much for them.

>24 lorax:: Actually, I *am* a small woman with very little upper-body strength, and didn't think I would be able to use boxes that big until I tried, and was surprised to find that I *could* carry and stack them, including stairs. (So can my sixty-year-old mother, who's about my size, and has slightly more upper-body strength because she gets off the computer more. Age isn't everything, nor gender.) Being able to carry books in boxes of fifty rather than twelve made everything go so much faster, which is why I've become something of an evangelist for them.

I probably should have made where I was coming from clearer in my posts, especially when failing to be funny, but I clearly messed up on tone. (as happens to me every so often when I'm trying to look grown-up online and skip the emoticons. :/ )

Those boxes are close to the limit of what I can carry without exhausting myself, but not at the limit, and from experience helping four other people move this summer as well as myself, a lot of sedentary people have about the same limit. I personally would rather make a dozen trips up and down the stairs with heavy but easy to handle boxes than three dozen trips with smaller ones, and anyone who has more upper-body strength than a small, out-of-shape woman should find it even easier. I assumed "stronger than me" applied to most people here, because I am *so* not macho that I lose at arm-wrestling to five-year-olds without even cheating, but clearly I was wrong, and I'm sorry for making assumptions. But obviously, your mileage may vary.

Melannen, I appreciated your fessing up to trying to be funny and maybe missing the mark, just a bit. Actually, I did not take offense. And I do know that sometimes I feel a little bit insulted when people assume I need help with something, or that I can't do something. I try whenever possible to push myself to try hard things, pick up heavy things, etc. Muscles not used do get weaker, and as I age, I find that weaker effect is very fast. Damn.

I hope your move goes very well and that no one pushes themselves too hard. And, I hope, espcially all your books are moved in good shape. Good luck.

Slightly off topic, But I hope helpfull.

If you have to Store your books for any longer period of time (10 years in my case)
Never, repeat, never store them directly (even in a box) on a concrete floor.
Concrete is hydroscopic and will turn your books into mush.

The books I am currently storing are in (Too large) boxes lined with thick plastic.
I will have to repack them when I finally move them, YES, small is good!
Unfortunately I talk from bitter exterience from a previous time.
Sobs for lost books.

Edited for spelling/grammar...

21 >

Uh, you (and your professor) should know that media mail rates are for boxes that ONLY contain media - even one non-book/cd/video item means it should go parcel post. And the USPS has the right to inspect any media mail box they suspect contains other material.

If you are planning a move- start stalking Craigslist for used boxes now. You can often find lots of free or much-cheaper-than-new commercial moving boxes for the trouble of responding first and running to get them fast. You may have to take some sizes you don't want to get the ones you do- but I assume you have more than books to move.
When I knew I had to move, I tried to find lots of smallish, clean, sturdy boxes early on, and actually kept packed book boxes on the bottom shelves of my bookcases for a few weeks.

28- Oh, I'm well aware of that fact, and she was too. But this was "back in the day." Probably before I was born...

Oh - I just moved across town with just about 400 books too. I don't know if it would work for cross country, but I gathered up a ton of QFC paper grocery bags. They work AMAZINGLY! I really recommend it. Might not be as much protection as boxes for a longer drive, and you can't stack them, but I moved them all without a drop of sweat because of how easy it is to carry so many books in bags vs boxes! They're strong enough that I filled every one to the top with hard and paper backs and none of them broke at all!

Whenever I would shop I'd always ask for extra...sometimes they wanted to charge me and I'd say no, but normally they'd give me a few. So then I went after midnight when it was empty, bought a few tiny things and on my way out, I grabbed a stack of about 20-30 from an empty stand and stuffed them in my bag before walking swiftly out the door!

Best of luck!
chloe

I've heard a few people swear by getting industrial-size rolls of cling wrap and just wrapping small stacks of books (1-foot stacks, say). And hey, you don't have to label a box - you can see the spines!

I have moved a fairly large amount of books (about 1800) many times. Never across the whole country, but from Arizona to Washington, and from Washington to Utah. The weight shouldn't be an issue, however - and this is extremely important - NEVER LOAD BOXES OF BOOKS IN THE OVERHEAD STORAGE AREA OF A MOVING TRUCK! Yes, I know caps are considered yelling, but I don't know how else to emphasis the point. Hopefully no one else is as stupid as we were, but if you are eyeballing that space, and thinking how nicely those uniform boxes of books would fill it, think again. We made this mistake on a move from Utah to Wyoming three years ago. As we assended through Parley's Canyon, which goes up to Park City, and is extremely steep and curvy, I watched the U-haul from my rearview mirror as it swayed and looked like it was going to tip over with every corner. I was sure that I was going to end up in Wyoming as a widow.

I agree with all of the other comments about box size. The smaller, the better. I have three muscular brothers, wrestlers in high school, and they complained the first time I moved my books and used boxes which were too big. Try your local independent bookstore for boxes. The are generally a good size, since they were intended to move books in the first place.

27 -- Great advice!

Here's mine. Pack books FLAT in those boxes; do NOT pack them upright, on their spines, or any other way. If a box gets strained at all (such as under another heavy box) books sustain much less damage if they're lying flat.

Good luck with the move!

Another good source for moving boxes (though of many different sizes, I'm sure) might be your local freecycle group. At least the one I'm on has pretty frequent posts of people both offering or asking for them.

I used the smallest of the Uhaul regular boxes when I moved my books the last time - 20 years ago. That was about 10,000 books and a professional company paid move. Agree about the smallest boxes, but I'd put in a strong vote for uniformly sized boxes as well.

I'd already packed a lot of them and put them in a ministorage place, when the mover came to estimate, and all the basement furniture was in front of the 88 boxes of books. And I had a lot of books from other parts of the house not yet packed. I had told the estimator that the back of the cube was all books but I guess he didn't believe me because the actual move came in 5,000 pounds over the estimate.

Plus the bookshelves in the new house were going in the third floor - up 2 1/2 flights of stairs. I did tip the moving guys very well. (if you look at my LJ, same username, you can see the house.)

I'd guess that my collection would be around 20,000 now, maybe more.

The best boxes are to be found at a hospital. They are clean, strong and all sizes and shapes. I agree that the smaller the box, the better. I threw my back out carrying boxes of books. They get very heavy.

When I moved my books one time, I packed the boxes in one of those crates they let you keep at your house which they move to storage. When the guy came with the lift, the Lift was Lifted right off the ground, the crate of books didn't budge! I had to repack the whold crate!

This hhas always been my strategy.

Just saw this thread. Makes me think of the time, years ago, when we were going to move cross country. We packed all our stuff in a Ryder truck and were ready to leave when our next door neighbor, an ex-trucker, noticed the truck seemed too heavy and he took it to the local weighing station. Good thing he did because it would not have been smart going cross country on Interstate 80 in late October with a truck that was 4000 pounds over its weight limit. And we had been so proud of our packing job, particularly of the books! In the end we hired Bekins or some such professional mover. For our next cross country move we got smarter. We got rid of most of the paperbooks, magazines, manuals, databooks, research papers etc.

In terms of suggestions, I wouldn't mail so many books for the fear of damage in mail but would move them myself or hire professionals. You can keep weight down by throwing out things you don't care about or can buy easily at the other end. Label and list box contents. Color code like boxes and keep counts so that you can quickly discover if anything is missing at the other end. We used boxes new books come in (thrown out by a local book store). These are strong and anything larger is too heavy to carry. We packed books flat and made sure each box was full. They get *very* heavy so stack them low in the U-Haul and ensure that load is balanced (and watch that weight limit!).

I moved cross-country about a year ago with approximately 4000 books and all the furnishing of a 5 bedroom house. My husband found a moving company that provides a professional driver and a moving van, but you do all the packing. I started packing about two months before the move and even hired a couple of very nice people to help me pack the books (and all the stuff in my kid's rooms). We were really fortunate that our moving van driver was a very experienced van packer. For a little extra money, he packed the van and even suggested moving our VW bug in it! I'm still unpacking books, but am almost done. I worked in a large government library before the move, and was fortunate to be able to snag all the boxes the weekly shipments of books came in for about six months before the move. They are very sturdy boxes and just the right size for books.

I moved about 2000 books a year and a half ago. About two months before the move I started weeding and packing the books. I donated about half of my library. I used the Relocube system. We packed and the moving company drove. One suggestion I have if you go that route is to evenly dispurse the weight throughout the cubes instead of stacking all of the books together in one. My sons packed all of the books into one of the three cubes and when the driver came to load them on the flatbed he had a really difficult time with the media cube (books, movies, cds, etc.) He eventually extended the forks on the forklift but I was so nervous I couldn't watch.

If you check with your local library they might be willing to save their book boxes for you. That's what I used and they are perfect.

I'd suggest optimizing your packing for weight and not space. When I moved I nearly broke a dolly moving boxes of books. The people helping me move were highly unhappy about having to move lots of boxes weighing well over forty pounds each, also.

On the other hand, as readafew stated they all stacked nicely in the back of the van.

Seven years ago we moved about 5000 books (no, they're not all entered in LT yet ...); we had most of them in archive boxes, which we got from Costco for about a buck apiece. We found that while xerox paper boxes are an excellent size, and (for us) not too heavy to lift, it was the *boxes* that were weak. The double-walled archive boxes worked much better. Quite a few of them made multiple trips, being unloaded at the new house and going back for more. Now they continue to be useful storing stuff in the garage! (And yes, we have them up off the concrete!)

We are currently gearing up for the fourth move of our ever-expanding library (currently about 2000 volumes). We found on the first move that the boxes pharmacies receive empty pill bottles in are perfect for books--small, square, sturdy, and all the same size. When you have dozens of boxes that need to all stack together, having them the same makes for a tidier and sturdier stack. We've kept the boxes through our moves because we found them so useful. Other things we found useful:

Don't tell your friends how many books you have until they've already arrived to help move. Unless your books are all stored in one room, all except your very closest buddies won't realize what they've offered to do. Also, don't expect the same people to offer to help next time.

Use a dolly! This is where the small boxes are nice too because they don't bend/slide off. The dolly will prevent hernias. Try to find a ramp for steps for the same reason.

It will take awhile to unload all those books and you'll likely (though not necessarily) prioritize food, clothes, etc in your unpacking. Don't set the boxes directly on the floor. There will inevitably be a water/soda/other wet substance spill that endangers your precious collection. Instead, use plywood supported by several 2x4s lying on the floor to raise everything up an inch or so. It's more than worth the time and expense--having to emergently shift 45 boxes of books because someone spilled a can of soda is NOT FUN!

While packing books, sort them by where they will go in your new home. Why move something that heavy twice? We've heard of uber-organized people who color code the boxes with where they go so their helpers will put them in the right place. We're not there yet.

We second the recommendation to pack your books flat, not with the spines up. Especially if the boxes are stacked, you will ruin the binding otherwise. Not all books can stack flat if you want to fill your boxes but you need to have at least one column per box of flat-stacked books to take the pressure. Other books in the box should preferably stack flat or stand up straight (as they would on a shelf) and the column needs to be the tallest thing in the box.

Don't leave head room in the boxes. They will smash when other book boxes are stacked on them.

Good luck to everyone trying to move books!

One thing we did when we moved to help decrease the weight of the boxes was to put books flat in the bottom, filled about half to three fourths of the way, then stack light items such as sheets/ blankets on top. The blankets also helped to insulate the books from being tossed around in the box.

Wadded newsprint and plastic grocery bags do a great job of filling corners that books simply won't go in and also reduce the amount of shifting inside the box. (I've always used household linens to cushion breakables but they would work in book boxes too.)

#17 - I always *fill* book boxes; otherwise you can't stack another book box on top.

My family moved a few counties over with a U-Haul and a few thousand (?, not sure how many we have, but a lot) books. Waffle boxes are great. Fill them with books and they weigh ten pounds or less each, very easy to carry. Unfortunately, our supply of those is small. The larger boxes we resorted to using were so much heavier.

My family and I moved about 900 miles a few years ago and we took several thousand books with us. My library listed here is maybe half of what went. Another option for boxes if you know anyone in an office building is the boxes reams of paper are delivered in. Those carried a large percentage of what we moved. They are smaller so you won't over pack and end up with a 60lb box and they are very sturdy being designed to hold relatively heavy amounts of paper.

My only advice is not to pack the books too early. We packed our library two weeks before we moved, didn't discover until moving day that the packing room had encountered water damage. Along with half of our library.

Or monitor where you've put your packed boxes. A five-day marathon of "final packing" is crazy-making. We just moved probably around 2000 books, using 80 12"x12"x12" boxes, and which I think left us a little short. Also, my partner had some of his boxes crushed a little because he didn't pack books all the way up, filling the headroom with softer items, and the loaders put some of these boxes on the bottom. We haven't unpacked these all yet. We suspect the books are fine, because they're mostly packed flat, but the piles might have been unstable.

I found that I had anywhere from 15 to 40 books per box, depending on the size of the books (big textbooks and craft-related books vs. small fiction MM paperbacks). This may help you in determining how many boxes you need, or how many books to pass along.

Moving companies have "book boxes" which are a good size. Check U-haul and others. If you have U-Haul throw them on the truck, but get a bigger truck or your truck may end up overweight on the scales.

I just moved about 10,000 books from the DC area to the Chicago area. more than 200 book boxes. I did use a moving company. I hired library school students to pack so I didn't end up with 200 boxes marked books. (They are in storage at the moment.) - These are my mother's & grandfathers - I have about 12-15,000 of my own of which about half are in Librarything.

Oh, and about the U-haul book boxes? None of the U-haul places within 50 miles of us had even heard of them, and Staples (office supply store) was more expensive and didn't have many in stock, so we had to order them online. So plan ahead in case you can't find them locally and need to have them shipped to you.

if you have a freecycle group in your area (check freecycle.org or .com) and request moving boxes & especially book boxes... you might be surprised to get some extra boxes for free.

Are you shipping by sea or air? If by sea make sure you include some dessicant in whatever container you decide on. Kind of damp out there. I knew someone who moved to Africa who found the cheapest way was to ship everything on a freighter in 50 gallon oil drums lined with giant plastic bags. This was all her possessions from books to coffee makers. It all managed to arrive safe and sound.

Varielle's insight, though a little specialized for most persons, is worth rubies. Meanwhile, let me add my rich baritone to the chorus of those who say LABEL! LABEL! LABEL! and avoid wine-cartons and bond-paper boxes for domestic moves. I was a foundryman for years, and still work in the woods every day, but I still think it's folly for anybody to heave fourty- or fifty-pound cartons around. Repetitious handling of small boxes beats the living Hell out of back-strain, unless you're looking for an excuse to drink mucho vino. O yeah, in my experience and observation, most people are surprised at the number of quartos they have, and are left scrambling at the last minute to appropriate packaging. A small point to consider when shipping internationally. Customs inspectors can be brutal: be prepared for spinal damage (the books', not yours). Good luck, -- G

just moved 25K books. Local Barnes & Noble cheerfully donated 200 nook boxes; local comic shop chipped in with even more boxes they receive comics in (these are very strong & slightly smaller - perfect!) and paper boxes for the rest. All worked fine - no damage, despite disorder.

Regarding the best boxes - my favorite are the white magazine boxes made for comic shops - I buy them in bulk, usually on eBay (30 seems like a good number from a shipping costs perspective). The bottoms are reinforced and there is no tape seams to break, so there's less worry about the box falling apart. I do letter/number combinations on the boxes and enter these as tags (look at my library and you'll see what I mean). These boxes have cut-outs on the ends for your hands, don't become too heavy and can be stacked 6 tall without tipping (more if tightly wedgeed to similar columns). For odd sizes, the comic book boxes from comic shops (as already mentioned) are great for flat-laid volumes. I've moved in excess of 5000 books using these boxes and they have survived in good shape for many years. They can also be stacked easily on a hand-truck, about 5 high and are consistent in size to make them easier to pack into a truck.

>55 EclecticIndulgence:
800 books isn't going to be enough to fill a shipping container - maybe it would be worth estimating the weight and volume you will have (depends on the type of books, of course) and calling round a few removal companies to see if any of them has a container going to the UK with a bit of space free? That might work out cheaper than sending them separately, especially if you're not in a hurry. Drawback is that they will probably arrive at a depot in Inverness when you want them in Penzance, or vice-versa.
Find out exactly what you need for customs clearance before you pack everything (removal companies should have experience with this): they'll probably need an inventory of some kind, and they may not be happy about any sort of packaging they can't open without damage.

Re: Box sources:

Before we moved ca. 700 books two years ago, I had been working in a university library, and I spent the three months before we moved stocking up on the boxes that book companies use to ship books to libraries (the main supplier for our library was Baker and Taylor, a subsidiary of Taylor and Francis Group). They're double-walled for strength and protection and just the perfect size!

Inverness was just a worst-case example! I don't think container ships from Canada are very likely to call there, really. Most of the main companies will have depots somewhere in the London area, of course.

I'm with johnnyapollo in message 59. I've used long comic boxes for both books and comics for more than 10 years (with number/letter tags, too, though not for that long, obviously) and the boxes do last well. However, the last batch I bought from 2 different comic shops near me were really poorly constructed (they wouldn't fold together properly), so if you're not doing the Ebay order thing, have the guys in the comic shop put the boxes together (or do it yourself) before you take them home so you can see if they're going to work well.

Also, as bookstopshere said in message 58, a less expensive alternative is to call your local Barnes & Noble Monday through Friday during the day (when they get deliveries), ask to speak to the receiving manager, and see if they can spare the boxes from that day's delivery. You should be able to get quite few boxes as long as they don't need them for their own book returns to the publishers.

My 6000 or so books are in careful order alphabetically under various general subjects. It's always very hard to figure out which subjects would fit best into which sections of the shelves in the library, and unpacking (and realphabetizing) can be a nightmare. One thing I did when I moved 5 years ago was to photograph each shelf so I had a guide as to where to begin and end alphabetically when unpacking. This was very useful indeed.
I also found that is is best to pack as many books as possible by yourself. Movers just don't have the same ideas about book care as I do. At the very least I inspect the boxes as they are packing them to make sure that they haven't just shoved in paperbacks, bending spines and covers, to fill space! They are so good at packing china and so bad about books.

You might consider packing your books into boxes, then getting someone to put them on pallet(s) for you and wrapping the pallet(s). Shipping a pallet is a language the transport companies speak.

The most relevant details to have when asking for estimates are weight and contents, but have an estimated value for your collection ready too.

I know this is an old thread, but I also like the archive-type boxes. I got a bunch of "document boxes" with removable lids & cutout handles. The small size keeps you from overfilling, and they have a sort of weird, interlocking/flap construction on the bottom that makes them much sturdier for heavy items than a standard cardboard box with a taped seam.

I didn't just use them for books, I used them for just about everything - dishes, bathroom items, kitchenware. They made packing easier, unpacking easier, searching for some necessary item in a previously packed box easier... and the small, modular cubes made utilizing every inch of available space in various vehicles easier, too.

And when you're done with them, they're easy to break down/store in a small space as well (since you don't use tape to hold them together). I got a bunch of them for one of my moves in college, and that set lasted me through about a half-dozen moves that followed.

PS: For one of my moves, which was cross-country (and I drove a compact car), I shipped my books media mail. No harm came to them, but the outer cartons did take some lot of abuse. These were paperbacks & hardbacks that were already in pretty rough shape. For anything you care about, I'd think bubble-wrap would be your best bet - and maybe wrap the bubble wrap with saran wrap, just for an extra layer of water/scuff resistance. For anything you really care about, might want to stick to a shipping method that's insurable. For my other cross country move (which happened right after I'd bought new furniture, to replace the college-era crap I'd yard saled for my previous move) I rented a U-Pack cube from ABF. Cost me about the same as a small Uhaul, after gas was factored in, but I didn't have to drive it or tow anything behind me... you'd be amazed at what you can fit in the space of a small closet when you are utilizing every available square inch of space.

>67 resnovae:: But if you're going to use bubble wrap around the books, make sure that it's only for a limited amount of time.

If you're going to be storing the books that way for any extended length of time, make sure to wrap them first in acid-free paper. (The plastic in the bubble-wrap is NOT acid-free, and if left in contact with really anything for a long time, it will leach and stain like crazy.)

We just downsized last year into a townhouse from a large house. I packed all my books, dvds & cds into document style boxes. That was the easy part ...good boxes. We then hired the moving company guys to move all the boxes to the basement until we sold the house. Then when we actually moved the moving guys came back and moved all furniture and boxes... at the new townhouse we have an upstairs room over the garage that is used as a sitting room / reading room / library. Thank heaven for the muscular movers and the document boxes. All books were put upstairs with the bookcases and everything looks great now! This was the first move in 39 years for us, so it was quite traumatic. Now I have a great room away from the main level to read...

>69 JaneAustenNut:
"Photos! Photos!" are the shouts heard from the crowd!

Os.

I too am considering a move soon and have been looking for boxes. I found some sturdy plastic boxes at Home Depot made by the Monoflo Corp. of Virginia. HD no longer carries them, but they are available in various sizes through Global Industrial Supply of Georgia (www.globalindustrial.com).

Here are some recommended sizes:

Model GK257811. Size (L x W x H): 21 7/8 x 15 1/4 x 17 1/4. Rated for 45 pounds. A good size for larger books, approximately 9 x 12 or so. Will hold two stacks, or almost 3 shelf-feet of books.

Model GK 257813. Size (L x W x H): 23 3/4 x 19 1/4 x 12 1/2. Rated for 50 pounds. Will hold five stacks of standard-size books, approximately 4 shelf-feet.

The boxes are heavy industrial-grade polyethylene construction, have permanently attached hinged, interlocking lids, and are stackable five-high. When not in use they nest for easy storage. Available in colors blue, red, and gray.

The boxes are sold in cartons of three. $18.25/each for the smaller, $18.70 for the larger. Global ships via UPS; with shipping, a carton will run you about $65.00 to $70.00. Might seem a bit expensive, but the boxes will ensure that your books will arrive at your new home undamaged.

I worked in a school during our last move, and for a few months prior took home several paper ream boxes a day. It's amazing how much paper a school goes through. I packed all of my books and dvds into these boxes. I labeled the boxes by which bookcase and shelf they came off of (B1S1, etc.) and that made unpacking super easy. My husband was so excited when it came time to unpack the dvds!

>72 Ilithyia:: "I labeled the boxes by which bookcase and shelf they came off of (B1S1, etc.) and that made unpacking super easy"

And if you're obsessive about it (like I was), you can then apply a tag to each of your books on LT to indicate which box they went into. That way if an unexpected hitch comes up and you don't get all the boxes unpacked ASAP, you can find a wayward book if you need it.

We moved in 2012 after living in the same house for 41 years. We downsized to a townhouse. At that time we had to dismantle our library and move all the books to the basement in boxes while house was being sold. I purchased the standard file boxes from Staples (cheap) packed the books in them and called moving people to move the boxes to basement. Then when we sold house and moved to townhouse the moving people moved all the book boxes with our furniture. These file boxes worked great because they have handles and are easy to move. When we arrived at new house we had the movers to put all book boxes upstairs in the bonus room; which is now my library. Good luck to everyone making a large library move. It took some time and I still haven't got my library really like I want it. Thankfully, I had most of my books catalogued on Library Thing.

We are just in the process of moving with our 2500+ books from China back to Germany. For the old, expensive books I went to the local woodworker to make 12 wooden boxes for us:



We first wrapped them in shrinkwrap for protection against moisture (overseas container = 4 weeks on the ocean) and then in bubblewrap. Some special tomes (all printed before 1700) have an additional layer of acid-free paper wrapping before the shrinkwrap. The other books are packed the same way, but put into paper cartons.

ETA: Alltogether we have nearly 60 boxes now.

Did you use any sort of desiccant and did they all arrive safely?

They are still on the way... I didn't use any desiccant. If there is really a moisture problem with the container desiccant will not help anyway. I can only pray that the shrink-wrap will keep it dry

I once left all my books for 4 months in the middle of the Hot Humid Houston summer in my apartment with the AC off. As I was preparing to come back, I was having worried visions of returning to a room full of warped unreadable books, and cursing myself not to shell out the cost of leaving the AC at least on low. It didn't help that I found out that there was water leaking into my place from the upstairs neighbor (and who knows how long before the handyman discovered it). Turns out everything was fine, though. The books were exactly as I had left them. Phew. But an apartment certainly isn't the same as a ship, so I hope everything turns out OK!

Wow, what great looking dovetailed wooden book boxes. Good luck on receiving your books unscathed.

Makes sense. My books have never been in transit/storage for more than a few days - it doesn't feel like home until the books are back on their shelves!

I recall seeing in some issue of Mother Earth News an article by someone who made custom wooden crates for his books, with sliding lids. After the move, he removed the lids, bolted the crates onto frames and had ready-made bookshelves with all his books in their original order.

I always thought that was terribly clever, especially if one moved a lot with their job or whatever. Alas, I've never actually implemented the idea.

so around half my library (not obviously in LT) fit in 200 u-haul small boxes, not book boxes. pure paperbacks 37 pounds. hardbacks vary on up to almost 60. Take ibuprofen before moving else the NEXT day you'll get the feedback. The other half is wondering where I am. Don't worry, I'm coming back for you!

Late reply I know. I have moved several times with my 1500+ tomes. The 12×12×12 Uline boxes sold in bundles of 25 are EXACTLY the right size for most books. I figure a box per shelf. Filled they are easily stacked and not overly heavy.

I’ve spent the last two years moving household two states away. Packing the van as tightly as possible is the goal for each trip. I found skinny boxes at the recycling center that were the right size to slip into the shelves of the bookcases laid on their backs. Huggies and Roundup (neither of which product I would buy!) worked perfectly.
I’ve move several thousand books. Just three cases left.

>85 2wonderY: I hope I never have to move mine again. I just had to pack up then re-shelve because we were laying carpet. Ugh. Disrupted all my organization.

>86 varielle: That reminds me of when the local library had their carpet replaced. The contractor was called Levitation, or something on that order. They guaranteed no disturbance of the books on the shelves, although the carpet was running under the metal shelving. The operated overnight. When we came in the next morning, it was obvious there had been a catastrophe. Books were everywhere, and those back on the shelves were just crammed in every which way. It took weeks to get it all sorted again.

>86 varielle: >87 2wonderY: Ugh. "I/we will put everything back in place" apparently means you're lucky if things end up on the right shelve!

>85 2wonderY: For my last house-move (from a small island to a much bigger island), I asked the postmistresses in both villages to save for me the boxes in which junk-mail was sent out from the central mail-sorting plant (on yet another island).

The boxes all had accurately-printed dimensions in inches. Most of them were 12x12x10, heavy-weight cardboard.

The postmistresses both got into the happy habit of saving boxes for folks who are in on my story.

>89 Westwater: Yay! for them for helping out. And for everyone being green and recycling (or up cycling?).