Bookshelf

A bookshelf is a category of buy mode objects in The Sims games.

The Sims
Bookshelves contain an infinite number of books. Bookshelves can be used by adult Sims to study cooking or mechanical. Bookshelves can also be used by child Sims to study for school; doing so eventually raises the child's school grade. Sims can also read books from the bookshelf for enjoyment.

The Sims 2
Bookshelves contain an indefinite number of skill and non-skill books. Bookshelves can be used by any Sim, child or older, to develop cooking, mechanical and cleaning skills. Sims can also read books from the bookshelf for enjoyment, or write in their diary. Teenaged or older Sims can read books to toddler or child Sims using the bookshelf.

The Sims 3
In The Sims 3, bookshelves hold books, but books must be purchased individually. The interface allows the player to move books into and out of the bookshelf. Unlike in The Sims and The Sims 2, where Sims can get the same books from different shelves, in The Sims 3, different bookshelves will have different books in them. (eg. Bookshelf 1 has a cookbook in it but not Bookshelf 2. The Sim cannot get a cookbook from Bookshelf 2, unless the cookbook is placed in Bookshelf 2.)

Library bookshelves
Bookshelves placed on residential lots automatically contain low level skill books, a toddler book, and several general books. Bookshelves placed on library community lots automatically contain a variety of books. Certain bookshelves when placed on a library will generate certain books.
 * The Book Corral, Penningway Bookshelf, Cobalt Codex Bookshelf, and Tower of Biblio Triple Bookshelf will generate skill books.
 * Classically Tasteful Literature Shelving, SolidShelf 9000, and Summer By The Sea Shelf will generate toddler books.
 * A-Frame Bookshelf by Clap 'n' Board will generate comic books.

Note while the one-story and three-story bookshelves from Into the Future will generate skill books in libraries, the two-story bookshelf won't.

Classically Tasteful Literature Shelving
"Perhaps a tad old fashioned, this shelf displays your good taste in reading material. We hold fast that the good guys should be grand, the naughty villains cunning and all love stories honest and pure. In a rough world, let our shelves protect your happy ending."

Back2School Bookshelf
"Made to withstand the stressful rigors of academia, the Back2School Bookshelf boasts a shelf strength of over 400 tons – more than enough to hold all those overpriced textbooks you decided to keep because they might “come in handy someday,” but never do."

21st Century Library Bookshelf
"Everybody loves recycling, right? That’s why we took genuine 20th-century hardwood library bookshelves and smashed them to a pulp in order to create these all new 21st-century library bookcases! They look the same, just more modern!"

Shelves del Libro
"This uniquely Spanish design expands the role of the traditional bookshelf to include more than just storing books. It can also shelve a variety of volumes, tomes, novels, leaflets, manuals, textbooks, paperbacks, magazines, and sacred scrolls."

Shelves del Libro has an environment score of 3.

The Book Corral
"Rustle up all the books you plan to read someday, and display them in style with the Book Corral. Each flat shelf allows for quick and easy book retrieval, just like the kind settlers used back in the day." The Book Corral has an environment score of 7. It is an essential component of any world because when placed in a library is fills up with skill books, allowing townies and NPCs to improve their skills autonomously.

Bookshelf Revisited
"Renowned bookshelf architect, Hans Whippleton, offers his latest creation, Bookshelf Revisited. “I wanted to create a shelf that doesn’t just store books, but cradles them” he asserted. Whippleton’s approach seems to be resonating, as several Revisited knock-offs prepare to hit the market."

Bookshelf Revisited has an environment score of 10. The name appears to be a play on the Evelyn Waugh novel ''Brideshead Revisited".

Penningway Bookshelf
"The Penningway Bookshelf presents a rich feast for the mind! This intellectual wonderland is first carved from an 800 year old redwood, then pressed from the pulp of recycled books to create a stunning place to store your novels."

Penningway Bookshelf has an environment score of 14.

The Constitutional Bookshelf
"The Constitutional bookcase is based on the same model Benjamin Franklin used to hide his secret vault... the same vault that allegedly housed a trove of trinkets and treasure maps. Join the adventure by ordering your own Constitutional today!"

The Constitutional Bookshelf has an environment score of 18.

Sturdy Shelf
"During the sci-fi craze of the 1950’s, visionaries often dreamt of a future filled with space travel, cell phones, and hover shelves. Well, two out of three isn’t bad. And until the hover shelf is perfected, most make due with a Sturdy Shelf."

The Sturdy Shelf has an environment score of 23.

Posture-Perfect Bookshelf
"We’ve always been told not to judge a book by its cover. However, judging it by its posture is a whole different story. No one likes a slouching book, so help keep your favorite literary devices’ posture intact with the Posture-Perfect Bookshelf."

The Posture-Perfect Bookshelf has an environment score of 5.

Class-E Bookshelf
"Some bookshelves skulk around hiding in dark corners and avoid meeting your eye. Some slouch stoutly against the walls with disaffected apathy. And some, like the Class-E Bookcase, stand tall and proud, commanding admiration as they grandly display the books they hold."

The Class-E Bookshelf has an environment score of 12.

FormFunk B-Shelf
"Humble materials. Color-impregnated Plexiglas. Simple repeated forms. This is the vocabulary of the design collective known simply as "FormFunk." This rhythmic and rigorous book display was featured in this year's "Objects of Desire" exhibition."

The FormFunk B-Shelf has an environment score of 17.

FormFunk G-Shelf
"Made as a clever companion for the B-Shelf, FormFunk once again displays their sense of humor mixed with rigor. Utility remains front and center in this delightful nod to mid-century cynicism and desire."

The FormFunk G-Shelf has an environment score of 17.

Precarious Shelving
"This artful display allows you to display all your prized books in a manner that looks as though it may fall over at any minute. It easily holds all of your glorious full-color coffee table books, from "A Love Letter to Cupcakes" to "Tran's Crossing: A Crossroads in Photos."

The Precarious Shelving has an environment score of 15.