Books appeal in a practical manner to the home maker as a help in furnishing the house. When this fact becomes more generally recognised and better understood there will be a freer and more generous distribution of books through all of the different rooms of the house.

Bookshelves and bookcases are so various in style and can be bought or made in so many varieties that no home need be without them. Open shelves and closed cases have each an advantage peculiar to themselves, but the former contribute in a greater degree to the decoration of the room than the latter, as the colours of the bindings are more apparent. Doors of leaded glass in a good design are more pleasing for guarding valuable volumes than sheets of plain glass. Latticed panes in squares, diamonds or curved lines are also interesting. Curtains attached by rods to the bookshelves require only to be drawn across the books when the room is in process of cleaning. With rich furniture and choice decorations the cases must be proportionately handsome to be in keeping. In less affluent surroundings the bookshelves may be of almost any material that accomplishes the object for which they are made - that of holding the books. These shelves may be of hard wood, oak, mahogany or walnut, and stained and polished or stained and finished in wax. They may be of poplar and stained an old blue, driftwood grey, forest green or a nut-brown; or, they may be of soft pine and painted white, green, dark red or brown. The best choice, however, when shelves are built against the wall, is to follow the same finish that is seen in the woodwork of the room in which the shelves are placed.

Ready-made bookshelves with doors and without may be found in all the hard woods. Small shelves for books may be a part even of the traveller's outfit, as they are made to fold together to fit into the bottom of a trunk.

SHELVES TO CONCEAL A STEAM RADIATOR.

SHELVES UNDER A MANTEL.

In establishing the books throughout the house no conventional arrangement is as good as that which is originated to meet the specific requirements of each household. A corner in the living room may be reserved for a revolving bookcase in which the heavier encyclopaedias and reference volumes are compactly brought together. A large dictionary laid on a steel frame where the pages may be turned without lifting is better than a bookcase for this valuable family friend. If magazines are bound in yearly or half-yearly volumes a set of shelves may be built for them.

Sometimes a long wall space is available for holding bookshelves, but if plenty of supports are not given the weight of the books will cause the shelves to sag in the middle.

An original device for utilising a closed chimney in a room where space was scant was to fit three small shelves below the mantel. The base of the bookshelves was Lettered in burnt-work with the motto, "Books are true friends," and the line embellished with a flowing design.

Another ingenious plan to provide shelf room for some books assisted in concealing a conspicuously large steam heater. Two shelves were fastened above the radiator upon an upright piece that was carried down on each side to the floor. A brass rod was screwed to the lower shelf, and a curtain gathered over it. The shelves were stained the same colour as the woodwork in the room, and no suspicion of the real intention that called them into existence ever came into the mind of the uninitiated.

In a rented house it is not always feasible to carry out very radical ideas in the introduction of bookshelves, but there is always some expedient for the home maker gifted with an inventive turn of mind. For instance, in a boy's room there was no space to put a set of shelves on the floor against the wall, and, owing to the landlord's restrictions, hanging shelves could not be put up. The mantel was finally suggested for a base and the following plan adopted:

Two shallow boxes were fitted with a partition that formed a shelf when the boxes were placed in an upright position, and the exterior and interior were painted white like the woodwork of the room. The boxes when placed side by side upon the mantel and filled with books were a successful solution of the problem of the conditions.

Sometimes a niche in the wall beside the mantel seems to suggest the introduction of bookshelves, and this location is so cosy for winter enjoyment that the prospective builder of a home may make it a factor in his own scheme. A comfortable reading chair drawn close to the open fire, a table with a low light and books within easy reach are elements that combine to make a picture of snug indoor comfort in cold weather:

"Song has made the ingle fair, Song has warmed the wintry air; Shakespeare's well-spring, draught divine, Milton's deep, sonorous line, Scott's pure fountain welling up, Keats' to brim the wondrous cup."

A spacious room in a country house that had been reconstructed from two small rooms had a unique thought worked out in the arrangement of the books and shelves. A poets' corner was established near the fireplace, where one could muse over the burning logs and enjoy "the sweet serenity" of the best poems. In another part of the room some religious volumes were ranged together, under the portraits of some noted clergymen, and in the niche formed by a deep, low window seat, some books on nature were gathered together.

In another home the books made a characteristic part of the furnishings throughout the various rooms. They were placed in low cases in the front hall, in shelves on the stair landing, in all of the living rooms and bedrooms, and imparted a delightful atmosphere to the booklover.

WALL SHELVES FOR A CORNER A MODERN FRANKLIN STOVE.

There is often opportunity in a bedroom in an angle of wall to add some open shelves. If the bookcases that are for sale in the furniture stores are not the right size, a plain design may be executed by a cabinet maker. If a washable silk curtain is desired to hang across the front of the shelves the natural-coloured pongee is the most serviceable. The edges may be trimmed with an embroidered design or one put on in colours with a stencil. In considering bookshelves for a bedroom it is safer not to hang any above a bed.

A stair landing that is wide enough to contain some bookshelves and a built-in seat will make this commonplace position more attractive, and a more pictorial effect will be attained here if the window can be one that is set with leaded glass in good design.

As books are one of the growing possessions of the family they demand increasing accommodations. There are cases designed to meet this need, and these arc made in sets or ti-that may be added to from time to time without spoiling their shape. One variety is made to fold compactly together for shipping or for packing away when not in use; others arc made with open fronts, and some have glass doors as a protection from the dust.