Sections
Guide sections
The guide is organised into four sections. "Shelves and order" covers where to put your books and how to arrange them. "Book care" deals with damp, sunlight, dust and small repairs. "Family reading" is about children, evenings spent with a book and household traditions. "Swapping and cataloguing" covers the catalogue, the books you have lent out and where to pass on the ones you no longer need.
Every home library has its own character. We don't offer one correct order — only a range of approaches from which it is easy to pick the one that suits you.
The sections include advice you can follow without special tools or knowledge: habits that take a few minutes, clear explanations of terms and answers to the questions any bookshelf owner eventually asks. We do not recommend particular books, compare shops or reading devices, or promise miracle cures for ageing paper.
Shelves and order
Well-ordered shelves save time and protect books: when a book is easy to find, you don't have to yank it out of a tight row or pile others up in stacks.
- Ways to arrange books (in Russian)
By subject, by author, by how often you use them — the strengths of each approach and how to sort a shelf over a weekend.
- Collection: Your first home shelf
A path for those just starting to collect books who want a convenient order from the outset.
- Questions about order
Should books be shelved by height, what to do with large art books, and is it worth shelving them two rows deep.
Book care
Books are harmed by sunlight, damp, heat and dust. Most problems can be prevented with simple habits, without spending money on special products.
- A book's main enemies (in Russian)
What light and moisture do to paper and bindings, and when it is time to call in a specialist.
- Collection: Old books
How to handle books handed down by older relatives so that they last for many more years.
- Storage terms
Humidity, fading, acid-free paper, mould — short, clear definitions.
Family reading
A child who sees adults with a book in hand reaches for one too. This section is about supporting that interest without stifling it with demands.
- Reading without pressure
A practical article on helping a child get into books gently and without punishments.
- Collection: Books and children
A short path for parents and grandparents who read together with children.
- Questions about reading
What to do if a child reads the same thing over and over, and how to combine paper books and e-books.
Swapping and cataloguing
Books pass from hand to hand: they are lent, given as gifts and passed on. A little record-keeping helps you lose nothing and find good homes for the books you don't need.
- A home catalogue (in Russian)
How to start a simple list of your books in a notebook or spreadsheet, and which fields to include.
- Where to give books away (in Russian)
Where unwanted books can find new readers, and what to check before you hand them over.
- New pages
The feed where the guide's latest pages appear, including those on cataloguing and swapping.
Related pages
- Guides
How to encourage a child to read without pressure: preparation, steps with illustrative examples, mistakes and a checklist. Also the article catalogue.
- Questions
Short answers on storage and care, order and cataloguing, reading together and passing books on.
- Collections
Reading paths: your first home shelf, books and children, old books.
- Reference
Glossary: binding, spine, endpaper, edges, dust jacket, ISBN, shelf mark, bookplate, acid-free paper.
What we drew on
- Overview of the ISBN system (general principles)
- Library guidance on book storage (general principles)
This advice is general and meant for an ordinary home library. If a book is especially valuable, very old or already damaged, it is better to show it to a conservator or bookbinder than to attempt a repair yourself.