Moving a long distance is always a challenge, but it can be especially difficult if you're moving with many books. Even small piles of books can be heavy, which can make your move seem long and tedious. Book boxes can also break if they become over full. 

Prepare well in advance and use the right boxes to make your moving experience better overall. If you're moving with many books over a long distance, these tips can help.

Thin Your Collection

Distance traveled and weight of your shipment both increase the cost of moving. Moving large numbers of book can increase your moving costs substantially.

Thin your book collection to make moving more affordable. Downsizing doesn't have to mean getting rid of all of your favorites.

• Remove duplicates.
• Sell books you didn't enjoy.
• Get rid of books that are falling apart.

If some of your books are college text books or recent technical manuals, sell them online to make a small profit and help defray the cost of your move. 

Use Small, Strong Boxes

Books are so heavy that they can easily break boxes. Use small boxes to keep the weight down, and use boxes made of extra strong cardboard to help ensure your book boxes will withstand the long journey across one or more states.

Get Rid of Rickety Book Shelves

If you have a lot of books, you probably have a lot of book shelves. Moving book shelves can be problematic for many reasons.

Book shelves take up a lot of space in moving trucks, which may force you to get a larger, more expensive truck. Moving is also very hard on book shelves. You may move your book shelves to another state only to find that some of them must be thrown away.

Book shelves are common furniture items that can often be purchased cheaply. Get rid of rickety bookshelves, and plan to purchase more when you arrive at your new home. This can keep your moving costs low.

Decide in advance which bookshelves will follow you to your next home, and point out those book shelves to the representative from the moving company when they come to give an estimate. The moving company will base your cost estimate on the amount of stuff that you plan to move, so knowing in advance what will and won't be going with you ensures that your estimate is accurate.

Pack Books by Category

When you arrive at your new home, you'll want to get unpacked as quickly as possible. Unpacking is easier if you pack by category, especially if you tend to keep different categories of books in different parts of the house.

Mark Book Boxes With Colored Stickers

Since you've got a large collection of books, you'll likely find yourself writing the word "books" on many boxes. You can make packing easier by marking all book boxes with a colored sticker that indicates there are books inside. This will cut back on the amount of time that you'll spend labeling your book collection. 

Work With a Good Moving Company

Moving to another state with a lot of books can be hard, even if you've made smart packing decisions. The best way to ensure that your moving experience will be a positive one is to hire a moving company with a reputation for excellence. Your moving company will treat your books with respect while doing the heavy lifting for you.

For more information about how you can make your upcoming interstate move a more positive experience, contact a reputable moving company. At O'Sullivan Moving & Storage, we're happy to answer your questions and give you more information.