NO. It would look completely ridiculous. I have no clue why you would "float" shelves to that height! If you must have it, you need a soffit above the very top shelf, and it would need to go up on that. And you will have a hard time finding one that suits the look . Sturdy, safe and LIGHT. Mabe a loft ladder............

Sorry but no is the answer and I also don’t understand why floating shelves at all for book shelves why not a good set of actual book shelves if you want this idea of a library ladder it certainly does not suit those book shelves at all.

We have floor to ceiling bookshelves, 12 feet high & 16 feet long, with an antique rolling ladder. The shelving is secured to the wall with lag bolts in numerous places. Then there are 5 brackets bolted to the uprights of the shelving that the track sets in.

So, in other words, no way!

Here is a photo that represents what I am trying to do. I saw this photo on Houzz. Are you saying that doing something like this would not be advised at all? I appreciate all your opinions. Thanks for sanity checking me!

Looks unsafe to me. In fact, it looks photo-shopped.

Edit: expand the pic and notice the left side of the ladder rail - it just stops. No connection to anything. Could be my eyes are missing it. But that's how I arrived at the 'photo-shopped' conclusion. Even if real, I wouldn't attempt it. Too flimsy IMO.

Make sure your umbrella policy is up to date!

Re the photo, note that the shelf the ladder is attached to--that shelf only, is knee-braced back to the wall. I wouldn't do it, though. Because the shelf attachment to the knee brace would be iffy. Maybe if the shelf was 1.5" of plywood and if the shelf was thru-bolted to the brackets. But certainly not if the shelf is 3/4" lumber....because lumber can & will split lengthwise with the grain of the wood.

I am so glad that wrote to this forum. One more question: what if I bolted the rolling ladder bar directly to the wall so that the bar was in front of the bookshelves. In this scenario, the ladder would not be touching or resting on the shelves at all?

Still dangerous. Imagine being on the library ladder and reaching for a book and falling just short of it - and grasping a shelf. What happens? Big crash. Either you pull down a shelf or fall off the ladder or some other unsafe happening. Don't risk it with the flimsy shelving. If you are going to go that high, IMO you need sturdy shelving that is properly anchored to the wall. JMO.

NO. I will repeat. Floating shelves are not meant to go to a 10 or twelve foot height.

Reduce to a level you can reach ( no more that about 7 feet...........and hang art above. that upper level. In other words? Forget the ladder

Safety aside, I dont find that inspiration picture all that attractive or functional. I could get all those books in half the space with better, stronger shelving.

Pick better ideas for inspiration. The wacky unsafe ones are already taken by the folks with their own personal injury lawyers suing themselves.

Just because you can find it on the internet does not make it great. That is no more than mass of wall clutter inspo pic! Sorry. Ick .

The reason great library built ins have well proportioned shelving? Your eye needs a place to rest! To have order ... Not chaos!

Wide expanses of endless books and whatever need DIVISION... and anything too wide , becomes impossible to organize

Besides everything else already said, I wonder who is going to load those shelves with books and then dust it every couple of weeks. All those trips up and down a ladder carrying three or four books at a time....arranging them just so....back to the floor to move the ladder.... OK, I guess if you are training for the Boston Marathon or the Tour de France.

I feel many on this feed are being dramatic. I own floating shelves that are installed to carry the load of salon products that weigh a significant about. Since the space is small I chose to maximize storage and went up to the ceiling with them and simply use a fold out ladder to restock lower shelves. I'm in the process of trying to have a ceiling mounted rolling ladder made for convenience. As long as the track is firmly attached it would not be any more unsafe than a free standing ladder. I also dust these shelves weekly with no problems. Every historic library uses very tall ladders to gain access to vertical space.

I say talk to a company that installs tracks for barn doors and ladders before you give up your dream.

There are plenty of things that can be done, but no one ever asks IF they should be done.