A Great, Simple, and Cheep Tool Every Seminarian Should Own

book standGoing to seminary involves books… LOTS of books. Half way through my first semester I saw a guy in class open one of his books and proceed to place it on the small metal stand… BRILLIANT I thought. Right there, next to his laptop sat his book, wide open and propped up to reduce having to bend over.

The next day I went to my local Barnes and Nobel and picked one up for $4. It was an AMAZING investment.

Everyone reads in different places. Personally, I am a desk reader. That typically means I have the book on the desk and I’m hunched over it reading. This is a horrible position in which to spend long amounts of time. Now that I have my book stand I simply prop up the book (I usually set the stand on a couple of my bigger books to get it to eye level) and presto, the text is in front of my face and I can sit back and read.

Now, by far, the greatest use of the book stand comes into play during paper time. Being able to prop open a book I’m quoting from or referencing and not having to bend over to read the words then back up to type… priceless! I set the book I’m using right next to my screen and go to town.

Now, there are tons of Book Stand options. For me, the cheap, lightweight book stand is where its at. I can throw it in my bag and take it where ever I go. It makes for a great lunch companion when your hand are full of food and you need to read.

Any other book stand nerds out there?

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Written by
Ryan Burns
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8 comments
  • I definitely agree; I had three that were constantly in use on my desk through seminary, plus another one that I kept in my computer bag for the library. And, in fact, I had the same model you featured above.

    My one complaint about that model was that it was a bit flimsy and tipped over too easily. This model from Fellowes is just as inexpensive, and folds just as flat and lightweight; but it is much more stable. It also holds the pages better, in my opinion, and can accommodate a bigger book (and we all know that some of the books we read/reference in seminary are fatties).

    Just my 2¢.

    Ed Eubankss last blog post..Mismatch problems

  • Absolutely. These things are gold.

    Is that a photo of yours on the desk? The only problem I have is with big books (more than 700 pages or so), the stand is a little too small to comfortably accommodate them. This one in the photo looks bigger though.

    Hmm. Maybe I need too depending on the size of the book.

    Jake Belders last blog post..The True Nature of Prayer

  • Yeah, that’s my desk. The stand I’m using came from B&N store around the corner. They don’t sell mine on amazon. It works on all my books… big, small, hard, paperback. Very happy with the investment.

    Also, speaking of photos… here’s a shameless plug for a new site I just launched called Inspiring Photography. The pics on the site aren’t mine, but I hope to shoot like that some day… till then, I’ll keep taking pictures of my desk 😉

    Ryans last blog post..Picture of Camera

Written by Ryan Burns
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