Where to get a library kick stool

Library kick stools are wonderful things. The roll, but the wheels are hidden, so they glide like a shelled creature with hidden feet. They stop rolling when you put vertical pressure on them (as shown), which is just darned good design -- when you stand on it, the stool is at its most stable. Plus, while you can drag them around with your hands, they're built to be kicked around by librarians with arms full of books. The kicking is kind of fun.

A couple of years ago my sister decided she wanted a kick stool for Christmas. We are not a tall family, so it would be useful. We'd spent plenty of time in libraries -- our mother was a librarian -- so maybe she felt a nostalgia for them.

I went looking. Kick stools were showing up in all kinds of catalogs, including Crate & Barrel and Williams-Sonoma. They came in snazzy colors -- celery. copper. orange zest. And classic silver, of course.

If you want to spend $129 on a kick stool, you can (at Williams-Sonoma). Most places sell it for around $70 -- that's how much Target will charge you. But what I found -- which is still true today -- is that the cheapest place to get a library kick stool is from a library supply store.

You don't have to be a library to order from Gaylord. You can order a single thing, like a kick stool. There, the library kick stools cost $52, plus shipping, which was quite reasonable.

And if you really love the library feeling, it's a site where you can pick up a book cart or some plastic book covers too.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Comments

[Valerie]

Thanks for the link to Gaylord. Lots of great items and the pricing is pretty reasonable.