Robert J. Sawyer bought some bookcases. By coincidence, he bought the same ones I have. Ikea’s tall 80 cm wide Billy shelves. What I found interesting was how he said,

Total new bookshelf space in our home: 8*76 cm, or 600 cm — over six meters, or just about 20 feet of space for more books.

Its completely logical, but I never thought of expressing one’s shelf space in length. After all, “I’ve got five bookcases” doesn’t really mean all that much given how they come in all different sizes.

You know I had to go measure, right? With each shelf measuring 76 cm in length, and my having 68 shelves in the nine bookcases with which I share my place, I’ve got over 51 metres (170 feet) of shelving. And no, this figure doesn’t include kitchen cupboards or the shelves in my closets.

Hearing it that way, I think I need to get rid of some stuff.