diff --git a/bookwyrm/forms.py b/bookwyrm/forms.py
index 9b410eaf..5acde9ea 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/forms.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/forms.py
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ class CreateInviteForm(CustomForm):
 class ShelfForm(CustomForm):
     class Meta:
         model = models.Shelf
-        fields = ["user", "name", "privacy"]
+        fields = ["user", "name", "privacy", "description"]
 
 
 class GoalForm(CustomForm):
diff --git a/bookwyrm/migrations/0100_shelf_description.py b/bookwyrm/migrations/0100_shelf_description.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..18185b17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/migrations/0100_shelf_description.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.2.5 on 2021-09-28 23:20
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("bookwyrm", "0099_readthrough_is_active"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="shelf",
+            name="description",
+            field=models.TextField(blank=True, max_length=500, null=True),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/models/shelf.py b/bookwyrm/models/shelf.py
index 89ea9471..63645596 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/models/shelf.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/models/shelf.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ class Shelf(OrderedCollectionMixin, BookWyrmModel):
 
     name = fields.CharField(max_length=100)
     identifier = models.CharField(max_length=100)
+    description = models.TextField(blank=True, null=True, max_length=500)
     user = fields.ForeignKey(
         "User", on_delete=models.PROTECT, activitypub_field="owner"
     )