ORE International R597-5 Five Tier Metal Book Rack

Packaging was good. Very easy for one person to assemble without instruction sheet in no more than a quarter-hour, although smaller people may have need to two persons to assemble it. Includes all screws (although no extras, so if you strip one, you're screwed); the screws are hex, and a small hex wrench is included, the only tool needed to assemble. Tubular anodised or powder coated steel construction, with perforated steel shelves.

The shelves bend a bit under load (I have it loaded with 40-55 lbs per shelf, about a dozen large hardcover textbooks and hardcover and leather-bound books of religion, per shelf, no paperbacks or at least not any paperbacks that weigh less than 3 lbs and anyone who has ever had a library full of texts on physics, chemistry, and Christianity can attest the books aren't octavo-sized miniatures: religious books and most textbooks are bound larger than life) but appear sturdy the fact that it's holding up under 200 lbs or more of books proves that. The contraption is quite sturdy for its low weight.

If you load it down with heavy books, you need to pack them from edge-to-edge to keep them from tipping, although this may be a problem of carpeting or uneven flooring, although I doubt it. The shelves hook over the tubular steel used to construct the cross-braces for the shelves, but are slightly (maybe three-quarters of an inch, or an inch half an inch per side) less wide than the frame, so if one puts a very thin book (many books of philosophy, etc.) towards the edge without pressure from the stack of books against the frame, it can fall through the small crack.

Overall, it's relatively large, relatively cheap, metal, and sturdy enough to hold scores of large, thick hardcover tomes of several pounds each, which most of the particle-board cases aren't, as they bend and eventually break under the weight, due to the nature of particle board. It's enough to hold ~70 textbook-sized A4 or 12 by 9 inch hardbacks arranged vertically, about ~100-110 trade paperbacks or mass market paperbacks of non-enormous length arranged vertically, and some ~150 paperbacks stacked horizontally, or double that (although I do not know if it could support the weight) if they're stacked two-deep.

Overall, I give a 8.5 out of ten, or four and one-quarter stars, and recommend it with some small reservations as mentioned above (mainly the books falling through the edges of the shelves if they're thin) but you're not going to find any shelf without those reservations until you get in to the solid-steel institutional-quality bookshelves in the $500+ range, or solid wood bookshelves that are very heavy and don't hold as many books in a similar price range.

Five stars out of five for the price, which for me was ~$75 with free shipping from Amazon.

Edited 07/06/11 to more accurately reflect the greater weight of books the shelf now bears admirably.

I needed more bookshelves but didn't want any more heavy wooden ones. This is lightweight and has 5 shelves. It was really easy to put together. The shelves have a lip on both sides so they fit snugly over the bars that hold the shelves together. When it was complete, I took it upstairs nice to be able to carry it myself and started setting books on it. I completely filled it with books and there is no sign of it bending or being unstable. The shelves are 12" tall so taller books will easily fit. I like that it doesn't have a back, but does have a bar at each level so the books won't fall out. This attractive bookshelf gives an open feeling to my room. I would definitely buy this again.

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Shelf was very easy to put together--no tools other than the supplied allen wrench required. It took me maybe 15 minutes to put it together. It's very strudy and was a great replacement for a wooden shelf I bought a few years ago which broke. Glad I went with the metal. The only complaint I have is the back support bars make it impossible to stack books on their backs without one jutting forward.

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I ordered two of these shelving units for my loft and they arrived in one week. First, the boxes were not real bulky. The sender even wrapped extra bubble wrap around them. Second, I opened each box and each piece was wrapped in clear plastic. Everything was in each box, no missing parts. Third, the easiest way to assemble them is to screw in each bar first, only half way. Then snap the shelves in place. There is only a print out of the parts...no instructions. Then, after the shelf is standing with shelves in place, start to tighten each screw...but do not tighten it so hard as to strip it. Note: The extra bars are for extra support on the backside.

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I bought 4 of these shelves for my homeschool classroom. They were delivered quickly, & came with the tool needed to put them together. My kids had all the shelves assembled in no time! Even though these bookshelves are lightweight, they are very sturdy. I have them loaded down, and the shelves are not bowing one bit. All in all, I'm very pleased!

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