My library's banned book display actually got more checkouts this month

Our small branch in Ohio put up a banned books display for February and it saw 40% more checkouts than our regular featured displays. I think people just got curious when they saw the warning labels we attached from actual challenge forms. Has anyone else seen numbers jump after promoting challenged titles?

2 comments

2 Comments

noran2119d ago

@william816 is right, I heard a librarian call it the "Streisand effect" for books.

william81619d ago

We had a similar thing happen at our library in Akron last fall. We put up a display of challenged books for Banned Books Week and the circulation for those titles went up by almost 60% compared to the previous month. It's like the warning labels act as free advertising. I've noticed this same pattern in other places too. Like when a restaurant gets a bad health inspection report, suddenly there's a line out the door. People just want to see what the fuss is about. The controversy makes something more interesting than it would be otherwise. It's a pretty straightforward human reaction.