SEI Furniture 11- shelf Metal Spine Book Tower, Silver

I had ordered the bookshelf last year in December but my order was unfortunately cancelled-probably out of stock. Last week, there were 2 available so I tried to purchase them but could only add one to my cart, bummer. It’s a great shelf and lower cost version of the Sapiens bookshelf. It’s sturdy, easy to assemble and exactly what I wanted. I’m going to purchase more once they’re available again since they take up less space and I’m liking the look. Perfect option since I downsized to a smaller home.

Took 10 minutes to put together. It’s sturdy and looks great. Exactly what I was looking for.

I love this bookshelf! The biggest problem is that it's really heavy, so be sure to assemble it right where you want it. Don't change your mind after building it (urg).Assembly was very easy. I kept a keen eye on the instructions but there isn't really any wrong way to do it. Put feet on the base, set the base sideways and attach the spine with slots facing in, stand it up, attach all the shelves. The shelves are all the same size, the screws are almost all the same, you can screw them on most of the way by hand, it comes with an alan wrench for tightening. It takes a bit of time as there are a lot of shelves, but it's easy. I had a couple of screws/holes that were not as easy to screw in as the rest, but I got them to work with minimal effort.I've set mine by my piano and organized my music books by genre. Each shelf can hold up to 10lb, which is a lot of piano books (more than I can fit). 11 shelves + the base make for easy organization (and you can leave shelves off for taller spaces). I have it against a brick wall, and it seems real sturdy. I might be worried about it scraping other kinds of walls. My main concern is stubbing my toe so I'm going to line the bottom with some fabric.All in all I absolutely love this book tower, and was super happy to get it for such a great price (80) with Prime shipping. Stellar deal, stellar product. Highly recommended.

Great design, material and size!! It's absolutely what I was looking for to fit my tiny space.

SHIPPINGI ordered two of these. The always reliable shopping experience of Amazon ensured that they arrived today--days before their estimated arrival date.PACKAGE CONTENTSThe package includes the following disassembled pieces: 1 back post (the long rod), 1 base (the square bottom), 11 square shelves, 2 longer screws (to secure the base to the back post), 24 smaller screws (two per shelf), 4 adhesive pads (for padding underneath the base), a wrench (one of those small L-shaped gizmos), 1 double-sided 2-page manual, and 1 parts replacement form. So the only tool one needs, in theory, is the included wrench. It comes with everything.ASSEMBLYPutting these together takes only several minutes to unwrap the pieces and assemble the book tower, and it doesn't require any tools--in theory; more on that later. The trickiest part of assembly--which isn't hard at all--is attaching the back post to the base; for me, the most efficient way to do this is to lay the base flat and level on the floor just as it will be once completed, and to insert the two longest screws underneath it so that they're protruding up and out from the bottom of the base, then positioning the back post down onto the top of the screws. Once loosely connected, tilt the now-connected back post and base down to the floor to expose the bottom of the base, and then tighten the screws with the wrench. Tilt the now-secured back post and base back upright, and you're good to go--only now having to insert the individual shelves into the slits of the spine.QUALITY CONTROL ISSUE #1I say in theory, because though the book tower has weight and is heavy-duty solid construction, there exists a few quality control issues that are evident--confirmed by the fact that I bought two which arrived in separate boxes but exhibit the same issues. 1) All of the screws, pads, and tools (the wrench) come secured in a small vacuum-sealed red plastic bag--so there's no way that pieces can fall out and escape during shipping, which is great. The problem is that the red bag of my first box only contained 17 out of the 24 smaller screws needed to assemble the shelves to the tower. So my first tower currently only has 8 shelves attached--with one screw remaining, meaning that I have three shelves requiring the additional screws to complete assembly. I would ordinarily chalk this up to my simple bad luck; I'd even be willing to pretend that somehow I magically lost the other needed screws by the simple act of opening the red bag--except for the fact of my second tower: The red bag in my second tower contained only 23 out of the 24 smaller screws needed to assemble the tower. 2 for 2!So there is either a faulty automated machine dispensing screws unevenly into many (all?) of the bags, or casual human error in counting the screws is fairly consistent during the packaging process. These products are supplied by an American company in Dallas, Texas, but the products are made in China. So perhaps this is simply growing pains of trying to maintain quality control internationally. My only point is that do not purchase this product and leave it laying around indefinitely without counting the number of screws you receive; and if you buy this as a gift, you'll perhaps want to consider requesting additional screws in advance so that your gift recipient doesn't suffer the experience and hassle like you did as a child when you received awesome battery-operated gifts--without batteries! It sorta takes all the excitement and steam out of the experience. That's what happened to me: putting together a nice looking gift quickly and painlessly and then--you hit a wall. So I took off a *half* a point for quality control. Petty? No, wait...there's more.They do have a toll-free number included in the "manual"--which is just two sheets of paper front-and-back because it's so easy to put it together--and they explicitly highlight when and where to call for replacement parts and customer assistance--AND also include a third page that is a dedicated Parts Replacement Form. This could be simply excellent proactive customer service, or for your conspiracy theorists out there, they included it as a result of consistently receiving requests for replacement parts. If the latter, fix it at the source, not afterwards. But to be fair, including such a form is quite or at least semi-common, I think. But that's not the only reason I deducted a point for quality control.QUALITY CONTROL ISSUE #2The second *half* point I deducted for quality control is related to the construction of the shelf spine--the slits on the back post--not the back post itself. But first I have to back up a bit for context. When you look at the photos of the Book Tower, it almost looks like the tower has shelves of different sizes--larger shelves declining in size until they reach the top, somewhat like a pyramid; I should note that the photo achieves that effect only due to the angle of the camera looking slightly down for that optical illusion effect. I'm not suggesting false advertising or deception, merely explaining so that you're not surprised that *all* of the 11 shelves are exactly the same rectangular shape, size, and dimensions.Secondly, extending the metaphor, the back post is the Spine, making the 11 shelves the bones. Each shelf--constructed in one single and solid piece--has cartilage that extends up from the back and middle of each shelf to allow it to connect to the Spine (back post.) This is achieved by first angling the shelf against and into the spine, then lowering it down flat--followed by placing two screws from *behind* the spine to secure them. (I stress this so that it's clear that during assembly, the screw holes should be in the back of the post, not the front, so that the horizontal slits are facing you when staring at the bookshelf.) All of this is to demonstrate that in order to connect the shelves into the spine, the shelves must be able to first slide into those slits, lowered, and then secured by screws; if they don't fit into those slits, you'll run into another "no battery" type wall--as I did: The two drill holes in all of the shelves leave a bit of the metal protruding outwards--like a frozen raindrop splashing onto the ground--so that the opening is not perfectly flat. They're *all* like that; poor quality control--they should be filed flat as part of the manufacturing process. They're not visible to the naked eye after inserted into the spine because they're hidden in the space inside the spine; however, the protrusion on one of the shelves was so pronounced that it simply did not fit into the slit, no matter how strongly I shoved and attempted to force it into the slit. As a workaround, I first took a hammer to try to flatten the protrusion, to no avail; plus, such modification voids their repair warranty, so be forewarned before banging indefinitely. But it's metal, so it didn't work.So I took a small handheld drill that I have and very gently and slowly just bore in and around one side of the slit--just enough to widen it slightly without it being visible. I wasn't drilling a hole into metal--only just extending the entrance of the slit ever so slightly so as to provide enough room for the shelf to enter the slit, move into the middle of the space in the spine, then slide down flat in it's locked position. It worked. I secured the shelf with the two screws and all was well. But had I not had the drill "just laying around near me in the room," I thought for a few minutes about not opening the box of the second tower and sending it back. These are very minor and quick tweaks to the spine, but may be required to seat the shelf into the base post; so if you're deeply not comfortable with any additional tools--it might work by simply shoving a screwdriver into the slit until it widens slightly for example--or if you don't know or have available someone who is just in case, then this might not be the product for you. You shouldn't expect it to happen in all cases, but it happened to me. So just be forewarned. It's not a cheaply constructed or even poorly constructed product. It truly appears that the manufacturing process has merely cut a few easily resolvable corners that many customers, like me, are willing to live with. But I wouldn't gift it to someone necessarily unless I knew they'd be ready just in case, or unless I volunteered to assemble it myself as part of the gift.CONCLUSIONSI like the clean simple even innovative design, the space-savings, style, weight, color, tone, and look of the book tower. It's more versatile than a standard bookshelf too. I have my cable modem sitting on the shelf of my "media tower" to elevate and potentially strengthen the signal, and then I'll add other things like DVDs, remote controls etc. on the other shelves. The second tower is for books. These benefits overshadow the inconveniences of having to call the company tomorrow and then wait for parts replacements, and the small hurdle with the spine that I had to overcome. So overall, I do recommend this product. I may add photos and updated comments after I use the shelves, add books, and test for sturdiness etc. Hope this helps!Update: CUSTOMER SERVICEPer the instructions on the parts replacement form, I called the company's toll-free number--not Amazon--the following day as soon as they opened (9 AM CST / 10 AM EST) and somewhat surprisingly a pleasant-sounding operator/dispatcher answered immediately--no automated messaging system, woo hoo! She asked me how could she direct my call, and I asked for customer service--also as instructed on the parts replacement form. Without any prompting from me, she then immediately asked if I required parts replacement; so this further underscores the likelihood that this is probably their number one inquiry. She then transferred the call and yet another pleasant-sounding person answered. There was none of that "We just opened, I just woke up, you're bothering me" vibe. I briefly explained that I bought two spine bookshelf towers and completed assembling one after combining the screws, but that I still lacked a few screws. (You could say I had a few screws loose.) She asked only for my first and last names, and barely before I could even finish she recited my shipping address for confirmation. So they already had me in the system! Painless. "We'll send you a complete set of hardware." After I thanked her, she furthered inquired if there was anything else that she could help me with or if I experienced anything else wrong with the product. I said "No, thank you. That's it!" The process was so quick that I was a bit stunned at the operational efficiency--even forgetting to note the other quality control issue with the slits on the spine. Thankfully, using the form and relaying a bunch of arcane order information etc. is not even required--just my full name! The entire call took less than five minutes and was completely professional and courteous. Kudos on the customer service.

This was hands down one of the best investments I have made. The shelf has a slim profile for storage, comes apart quickly (and is easy to assemble) and has a pleasing aesthetic. Don't be afraid to buy different colors: if the shelf is full of books nobody will see the shelf at all. I enjoy the accessibility of my books (I can place the shelf anywhere in a room without worrying about wall space. A must have for readers and book collectors.

This book tower is very sturdy and I love the color. I actually bought it to replace another one that was a funky color that I couldn't stand (at the time it was the only color offered). I had an issue with one part and customer service quickly replaced it. This is holding a lot of heavy Bibles very well.

Definitely going to get another one in the future for my other half if books!! I did exceed the weight limit when first messing with my layout, because for some reason I thought my biggest books would do well on the bottom. The shelves bent, I bent them back but removed them anyways to do what I wanted to do at the bottom. It was a looot of weight so I don’t doubt the sturdiness of this shelf. I’m just in awe I love it so much!! It was easy to assemble as well but the directions were in another language. Just a few simple pictures and cognitive thinking will do the trick. It is taller than me and I’m 5’4”! I knew it wouldn’t fit everything but it is a beautiful start.