Are books the most valuable thing you own? Do you plan your weekend with reading time prioritized? Do you also find the smell rising from between the pages of a novel to be a pleasant aroma? Well then, traveler, you have come to the right place. We know that you are planning on moving (or storing your books), and packing your home library is a challenge which adds just more unnecessary anxiety to the whole process.
So, how to deal with this particular challenge? Let us tell you a little story about it.
No Books Left Behind – A Sound Policy?
Imagine, for a moment that you are planning for a big move, for example, long distance movers Virginia, and you realize that your books, collected over the years and sorted carefully (or for some less carefully) on shelves also have to be packed.
― Stephen King
You think to yourself: “Well, this won’t be too hard.“. After all, one of the most significant advantages of the tried and tested book format is that it is somewhat portable. Ok, fair point, but – have you decided to move 30 of them? You might shrug it off, but then, when was the last time you numbered how much books you have?
Does packing your home library suddenly seems more of a challenge? Good – because it probably should. Only when you realize that books are pretty heavy for the room the occupy will you consider that steps must be taken for their proper transportation.
Initial Step: Saying “Goodbye.”
Hold on, don’t leave yet! Yes, we know that, for a passionate reader, leaving your books behind sounds like heresy, but hear this out. Let’s continue the scenario from before. In your move to Virginia, you are assisted by an experienced team of local movers Sterling VA, and those exceptional people sometimes price by weight.
Books weight a lot, and piles of them may equally cost you heaps of money. Packing your home library in its entirety might not be practical, or even feasible. Think rationally – do you need all of those books? Some can be donated, some given as a gift, while others might be better off thrown away.
Tools And Methods When Packing Your Home Library?
Well, all starts with rather a simple list of things you need before the packing issues. It is not like you are (still in the previous scenario) having to move furniture and are in search of furniture movers Sterling VA, but books are also very tricky. That is true even if book packing seems deceptively simple.
- A small/medium sturdy box which you will use to transport your books in.
- Cushing material for packing your home library
- Ductape and scissors
With these within grasp, you can begin!
How To Pack
So how to pack books? Well, it depends. Are they softcover or hardcover books? Hardcover is somewhat easier. You can pack them on the side or standing. Never make the side resting on the bottom of the box be the one without the spine or a cover. Your book will turn into a mess quickly like that)
So, improvise, but keep in mind the limitation of the books. On the other hand, softcover box bend and damage more easily. Standing/lying books are still an option as positions in the box, but be more considerate of their less sturdy design.
Boxes
Make sure that the box you are trying to be packing your home library into is sturdy and that the bottom of the box can withstand the weight.
Also, keep in mind to be safe. These boxes are, as previously told, heavy with all the box in, and you can easily hurt your toes if you accidentally lose grip. That is much more important to worry if you are stacking the boxes high. In this case, a fall can seriously injure you.
All of that said, reinforce your boxes with ducktape be careful.
Your foes?
In this daring adventure to the Commonwealth of Virginia (in this case) has some villains on the way. Water is one of them. Try to protect your books from moisture by any means possible (wrapping). Make sure that the books stay as dry as gunpowder.
And not to be outdone, extreme heat and dryness of the air can have similarly destructive consequences. Furthermore, a fall of any box stacked too high during transport (or storage) may result in severe damage to the valuable novels you cherish.
So – gravity won’t help, and extreme climates may take their toil. Other favorite candidates are some insects and fire, but both are not a normal part of the moving process. To do something about any of these (apart from checking if the moving company is reputable, boxes functional or new location acceptable), you can also label all of your boxes to avoid confusion.
To Keep In Mind
Well with all of this we said you could finally pack all of those worlds locked inside pages of your books and take them with you on your journey. We are happy if our advice helped you with dealing with yet another hassle in a complicated yet rewarding process of moving. You should now know what to pack, how to pack, and what to be mindful of.
And finally, just a final word of advice. Should something go wrong, either with books or with the movie itself – do not feel sad or get too stressed. Everything is not as unfixable as it may seem at the beginning. Moving is an adventure, a journey, and just because you had a small issue doesn’t mean it is worth losing your sleep over. After all – not all those who wander are lost.
