Anyone used IKEA ivar shelves for books?

[IKnowAPlace]

I have hundreds of books and need a better shelving solution.

I'm drawn to the Ivar system because it's cheap, bare pine so I can stain it darker to tie in with other items in the room and the shelves look a bit more open - I think this will work better in a small room.

Does anyone use these for lots of books or heavy items? Are they sturdy enough?

I have a set that I've used a few shelves for books for in the past as part of a wardrobe/spare room storage solution. I've found the Ivar units incredibly strong, efficient on space, very versatile (oh I need something different stored, ill just reconfigure the shelves) and pretty fab. Only thing to consider with books is whether you want to get some kind of custom book ends/hack to stop them falling out the end

Yes. Late H was an academic and writer and between us we had about 10,000 books. We had some antique bookcases, but Ivar was our basic shelving go-to. In some places we got a joiner to case it and add a cornice so it fitted into period rooms, - we still got the adjustable shelving function. In workrooms it was just left as it was. We had all sorts of books including oversized art books and runs of academic journals (dense and heavy). I've had some of it for 30 years. Still Fine.

This is great to know! Thanks, both.

Your late H sounds like a very interesting man, @Bideshi

We have 3 IVAR full of books, and several more with mixed books and stuff. We tied ribbon/webbing across the ends to stop books falling off the sides but they mostly fit in alcoves where that's not an issue.
The shallow IVAR is good for just books, but the deep one is good for books + ornaments or for resting a teacup on while reading.