The tomes are all “rescue books,” ones that would otherwise be discarded or recycled for paper pulp, said Charles Roberts, the president of Books by the Foot’s parent company, Wonder Book. There are other, sometimes counterintuitive, uses for fake tomes as well. Instead, perforated aluminum plates emblazoned with images of books can be found, primarily on the upper shelves of the atrium. Tina Ramchandani, an interior designer in New York, said that her firm has used fake books in both commercial and residential settings. For a dressing room in a members-only club in New Jersey, “where nobody was really going to read the books, but where there were bookshelves, we got all fake books,” Ms. Ramchandani said.

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