Re: bookends

[Henry Grunder <hgrunder@xxxxxxxx>]

Who would think that such a little thing as bookends could be
such a big problem? "The Devil, indeed, is in the details." I've
had experience with these wire things. They may look good on
paper, in the brochure, on the bid list, in administrators'
minds, etc. The only place they are no damn good is in use. I
don't know what their scrap value is; but that would be the
highest value.
So, we get stamped metal ones, either initially or as
replacements. Easy: That solves that . . . right? Well, not
really, at least not that easily. There are couple of potential
traps with these, too. First, if the gauge or weight of the metal
is too light, they will bend over for large books. But even if 
heavy enough, the simple stamped ones will "knife" into books, 
cutting and tearing the pages. So, we pay more (usually a lot more) 
for ones that have a turnaround or channel stamped into them. 
That gives them enough thickness to minimize "knifing." End of problem, 
right?
Well, not exactly - this kind usually has the same "tongue" as
the thin-section simple stampings. This projects back under the
nearest books, reulting in their being held by their own weight.
Problem with this is that pulling books back & forth over the
"tongue" shaves the bottom edge of the binding.
I've been through all of this in rare book room use. The only
truly satisfactory answers I've ever found are a.) the kind that
form a roughly isoceles triangle, with one leg vertical, against
the books, the other leg horizontal, on the shelf, and the
hypotenuse brace providing the rigidity. They are held down to
the shelf by vinyl magnet on the bottom side. These use up shelving 
inches, cost a whale of a lot, are hard to find, etc. Then there is 
b.) the plastic ones that clip over the shelf. They are prone to
breakage, have hard edges, etc., but require less space for
themselves, are cheaper, more easily found, usw.