How Shake-A-Shelf Is Made
Handmade miniature shelving and books in Massachusetts
Shake-A-Shelf is built around a deliberately simple idea: make a miniature bookshelf detailed enough to display as artwork, but leave the tiny books free to move, fall, and be rearranged.
Massachusetts artist Scott Caz hand-makes the miniature shelving and books used in current Shake-A-Shelf models. Each finished shelf model is signed and numbered.
The miniature books
Every current model comes with miniature books folded individually by hand. The books are made from paper with a foam core, giving them enough shape to resemble tiny volumes while remaining light enough to move when the display is tilted or shaken.
The Original Shake-A-Shelf includes roughly 200 books, The Nook roughly 75, and The Short Stack roughly 35.
The wooden shelving and display frame
The miniature shelves are handmade from basswood. Current shadow-box display frames are made for Shake-A-Shelf from radiata pine. The frame opens so the miniature books can be rearranged directly rather than being permanently sealed into one composition.
Why the books stay loose
The disorder is part of the piece. A Shake-A-Shelf can be displayed neatly, shaken into chaos, reorganized by hand, or left somewhere between the two. That interaction is what separates it from a fixed miniature library or conventional book nook.
Three current sizes
- Original: 10.5 × 8.5 × 3 inches.
- The Nook: 8.5 × 4 × 3 inches.
- The Short Stack: 5 × 4 × 3 inches.
Explore all three in the Shake-A-Shelf Bookshelves collection.
Handmade means individual
Because the miniature shelving and books involve handwork, small variations are part of the finished piece rather than a defect in an otherwise mass-produced object. The signed and numbered finish also identifies each current shelf as a Shake-A-Shelf made by Scott Caz.
Want the background as well as the process?
Read The Original Shake-A-Shelf: Our Story, learn what people mean by “anxiety bookshelf”, or see how to identify a genuine Shake-A-Shelf.