A bookcase is a piece of furniture designed to hold and display books. Most bookcases have several horizontal shelves stacked vertically in a frame, creating organized rows where you can store books standing upright, their spines facing out so you can read the titles.

Bookcases come in many sizes and styles. A small bookcase might hold a student's favorite novels and reference books in their bedroom. A tall bookcase in a library can stretch from floor to ceiling, requiring a ladder to reach the top shelves. Some bookcases have glass doors to protect valuable or old books from dust, while others are completely open.

People also call them bookshelves, though technically a bookshelf is a single shelf, while a bookcase is the entire piece of furniture with multiple shelves.

Before bookcases became common furniture in the 1600s and 1700s, books were so rare and valuable that people kept them in locked chests. Today, a well-stocked bookcase can reflect someone's interests and curiosities: you can learn a lot about people by browsing the titles on their bookcases.