Fellowes 25041 Literature Organizer - 24 Compartment, Letter, Dove Gray

I purchased this product 5 years ago for use in my classroom as a mail box for my students. The literature organizer has held up over the past five school years, where it is in use by students several times each day. The outer "box" is made up of MDF particle board with a thin laminate covering. This has not chipped, stained, or torn since my purchase. Every now and then it gets wiped down with a baby wipe or a bit of spray cleaner on a paper towel. The inner horizontal and vertical partitions are cardboard. The pieces slide together and fit into the box. It took a while to assemble originally, but is just as sturdy now as it was when new. There are black plastic "rails" that sort of snap over the edge of the shelves. It came with stick on paper labels for the shelves. The labels didn't hold up well and were impossible to remove. I now label the shelves using large binder clips - attach the new label to the bottom of the clip and clip that onto the front of the shelf.The shelves hold letter size paper laid in flat. It' sturdy enough for a few papers and two or three composition notebooks.While this is not the highest quality item available, for the price, it has been a good value and has held up well for the past 5 school years.

This product is awful. It has cardboard pieces. For the entire inside which makes it very flimsy. Does not go together properly and flush in all sides/parts/pieces. Not worth the money! We decided it wasn’t even worth trying to salvage it after it didn’t fit right so we junked it to the burn pile. 0/5 stars do not recommend. If I could have sent it back for a refund I would have. But it was already together and parts broken. Would love my $ back still if possible.

(1) Use 8 screws:The frame is made up of 4 pieces of particleboard that attach together with pegs, 3 pegs each edge. The pegs are reinforced with glue from a tube provided in the box. In my case, the pegs did not go in all the way (or maybe they were too long) so the pegs punched through the board damaging the veneer (as in some photos other buyers posted).Another problem I faced: I would secure one edge, then the opposite would pop up. I’d secure the opposite edge, then the one I just secured would pop up. To solve the problem, I pre-drilled then screwed in 1¼" screws, two in each edge. The screws made the frame less wobbly.(2) Glue the cardboard:The shelf and divider are cardboard, i.e. one large piece folded in two. To reinforce them, I used wood glue. I spread the glue with a thin piece of plywood. A metal or plastic scraper would do. I weighed down the folded pieces for 2 hours then continued assembling the unit.(3) Glue the backing:The backing is made out of cardboard to be held in place by tiny nails. The problem is that the nails don’t have enough ridges to stay secure in the particle board. If you glue the backing, you would make it more secure and it would eliminate all wobble. Apply wood glue to the edges of the cardboard and also nail it in.(4) Felt pads:If you don't want the unit to scratch your table, use felt pads. I have an assortment of felt pads. I used six felts pads, 4 in the corners and 2 halfway down each side.Overall this mail sorter is cheaply made. If you’re budget-conscious and this is the max you can pay, put in the extra time and effort in assembling it and use glue and screws.If kids are going to be using this unit, then add more glue in the slots that the cardboard shelves slide into and glue the rails. (I still might glue the rails.) Glue is your friend in strengthening this unit.

I’ve had this for 3 years in a classroom of kindergarteners. It looks brand new still. We empty it weekly and the kids use it daily to put their papers in. Holds a 9x12 piece of construction paper just barely.

I ordered this on prime day thinking it was an all wood organizer. I got it to the classroom today only to discover that the shelving is just cardboard. Plus, the only thing holding it together is some wood glue and pegs. I’m skeptical. I don’t see how it will hold up in the classroom. Plus, part of the frame came damaged. I am not impressed!

This organizer was just what i wanted. I work in a special education resource center for students with learning disabilities and the other five teachers and I are always needing to get information and papers to our students in a private manner, and without leaving it on our desks. Having purchased a smaller version of this same organizer for the teachers some years ago, I wanted a matching organizer for the students. I found the perfect one, in color and design in this organizer. It was easy to put together and our maintenance supervisor provided a perfectly sized shelf for it, attached to the wall. The teachers love being able to leave their papers for their students in each girl's own box, and not cluttering up their desks with all the papers waiting to be picked up. As for the girls (grades 9-12), they love having their own mailboxes and have pronounced me "cool" for having provided the organizer for them. They each have their own compartment and can even leave messages for each other in them. The only problem I had with this product which prevented me from giving it five stars was that the glue that came with it was very poor quality and did not glue the parts together that were supposed to have been glued. Luckily, our maintenance man is a very thoughtful person and when he put the shelf up for the organizer, he hammered in several nails to hold the unit together before he put it onto the shelf. My suggestion is to not let that stop you from buying this very excellent product, but instead to provide yourself with some good glue, such as Elmer's glue-all, Tite-bond, or another quicker drying glue that is of good quality, and to use that instead of the glue that comes with the unit. It's really a good investment and excellent except for that glue that comes with it - a small and insignificant problem that can be easily handled. Don't let it stop you from buying this product. It's really a good one.