Find me a book truck!

January 6, 2015 11:32 AM

I am looking for a cart for transporting and displaying books (something like this). It seems like there is a substantial price range -- you can pay anywhere from $200 to $500 or more for a six-shelf cart! Does anyone have recommendations or experience with particular brands or models?

Additionally -- is there a particularly good place (online or in the New York area) to buy such a thing without paying through the nose in shipping? I only need one, and I get the feeling a lot of the suppliers mainly deal with larger orders.

I know there are plenty of librarians on MeFi -- so hopefully one of you fine people can help me out. Thanks!

posted by goingonit to Shopping (8 answers total)

Do you need a new one? Do you need it soon? Sometimes you can find these things at your local University's surplus sale for super cheap or via your local state library association listserv (or even Craigslist). The main brands are the ones you've seen. You're actually likely to get charged higher prices if you go to the actual vendor websites like Demco and the like.
posted by jessamyn at 11:37 AM on January 6, 2015

It's all about the quality of the wheels. For example, the ones in the link you posted don't look like they could hold any serious weight. Real, heavy duty wheels will make moving the cart SO much easier. I second jessamyn's advice to look at university surplus. I got mine at an school district auction that I found through auctionzip.com, and it's a lovely old-fashioned wooden tank of a thing that only cost me $5.
posted by MsMolly at 12:19 PM on January 6, 2015

Govdeals.com is also a good place to keep an eye on if you don't need a cart quickly.
posted by MsMolly at 12:21 PM on January 6, 2015

What I dislike about your Amazon find is that the casters aren't strong enough, IMO, to hold the weight of 6 shelves of books. Also, do you really need a 6-shelf book truck or would 3 or 4 shelves be enough? If you're shelving tons of books at a time, yes, 6 shelves are nice to have but if you're not doing that, you could possibly get by with fewer shelves, thus lowering your cost. Also, gently sloping shelves or flat? If your books will sit on the truck for a while, I'd certainly look at gently-sloping shelves to hold the books upright, which is easier on them then sitting in stacks somewhere. But, strong construction and casters are your first things to look at. Here's a link to lower-cost book trucks from School Outfitters.
posted by Lynsey at 12:26 PM on January 6, 2015

Have you considered building your own? Constructing the body out of pine lumber and adding some industrial strength casters should be a fairly easy and fun project. I don't think you need to spend more than $75 on materials if you went this route.
posted by steinwald at 12:57 PM on January 6, 2015

One more place to keep an eye on: bignyc.org. They have a card catalog and gym lockers in their current stock, so it might not be too long before a book truck shows up.
posted by MsMolly at 1:11 PM on January 6, 2015

Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to go with new but I'll keep my eyes open on some auction sites for a week or two. And I'll definitely check the wheels, MsMolly and Lynsey!

One of the big problems with all of the dedicated school/library retailers is that shipping is so high (e.g. School Outfitters wanted to charge me $200 in shipping for a $205 book cart).
posted by goingonit at 3:33 PM on January 6, 2015

Check out Gaylord Supplies. they sell library carts like that. I don't know if they fall within your price range, but it is worth a shot to look. Gaylord has the cheapest supplies for libraries.
posted by Jewel98 at 11:02 PM on January 6, 2015