Last updated on August 16, 2020
As you might expect, the pandemic has led to a large increase in Boston Public Library e-card signups, and the Black Lives Matter protests led to a huge increase of requests for the most popular anti-racism titles.
“During the [Black Lives Matter] protests in June, we saw over a 500% increase in checkouts and holds on the most popular anti-racism titles including White Fragility, So You Want to Talk about Race, Between the World and Me, The New Jim Crow, and more,” said Natasha Fee, Senior Public Relations Associate for the Boston Public Library.
In the two weeks following the first June protests more than 1,200 BPL patrons requested ebooks of White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, and How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.
And hey, Kendi recently stopped by Jamaica Plain’s bookstore Papercuts J.P. when he happened to be walking by the South Street store.
Just as @_KateJP was about to head home yesterday @DrIbram
walked by the shop and thanked us for carrying his books😱 We are SO THANKFUL he wrote them!!📚Signed copies now available!https://t.co/njdHknZD1s#HowToBeAnAntiracist #StampedFromTheBeginning #PapercutsJP pic.twitter.com/iD6qabOCIo
— Papercuts Bookshop (@papercutsjp) August 12, 2020
“We’ve continued to see a steady interest in these items and have been purchasing additional copies of in demand titles (for kids and adults) to meet the demand,” said Fee.
Those additional copies lowered the number of holds on 125 of the most popular BLM and anti-racism titles from more than 11,000 at the end of June to 7,500 currently.
Across the Boston Public Library system total e-card signups went up 59% since the pandemic began to a total of 166,536, with 35,797 signing up.
Since launching BPL to Go in late June there have been 10,000 requests for items at the JP Branch Library, and 2,337 from the Connolly Branch Library.
As for the Top 10 books checked out systemwide since March 1, former first lady Michelle Obama tops the list, and is the number one requested book from the JP Branch, and the second most popular book at the Connolly Branch. Albeit children’s author Mo Willems continues to dominate the JP branches with five out of the top 10 books at the JP Branch, and three out of the top 10 from the Connolly Branch.
Top 10 books checked out since March 1 – system wide:
| Obama, Michelle | Becoming |
| Moriarty, Liane | Nine Perfect Strangers |
| Gladwell, Malcolm | Talking to strangers : what we should know about the people we don’t know |
| Atwood, Margaret | The testaments |
| Ng, Celeste | Little Fires Everywhere |
| Owens, Delia | Where the Crawdads Sing |
| Farrow, Ronan | Catch and kill : lies, spies, and a conspiracy to protect predators |
| Westover, Tara | Educated |
| Rooney, Sally | Normal People |
| Reid, Taylor Jenkins | Daisy Jones & the Six : a novel |
Top 10 books checked out since March 1 – JP Branch:
| Obama, Michelle | Becoming |
| Pilkey, Dav | Lord of the fleas Lord of the Fleas |
| Willems, Mo | Should I share my ice cream? |
| Willems, Mo | Listen to my trumpet! |
| Willems, Mo | My new friend is so fun! |
| Pilkey, Dav | A tale of two kitties 3 |
| Willems, Mo | The thank you book |
| Owens, Delia | Where the Crawdads Sing |
| Willems, Mo | Elephants Cannot Dance! |
| Beard, George; Hutchins, Harold; Pilkey, Dav | Captain Underpants and the invasion of the incredibly naughty cafeteria ladies from outer space (and the subsequent assault of the equally evil lunchroom zombie nerds) Color Edition N003*001 |
Top 10 books checked out since March 1 – Connolly Branch:
| Butler, Octavia E | Parable of the sower |
| Obama, Michelle | Becoming |
| Owens, Delia | Where the Crawdads Sing |
| Pilkey, Dav | For whom the ball rolls For Whom the Ball Rolls |
| Pilkey, Dav | Lord of the fleas Lord of the Fleas |
| Makkai, Rebecca | The great believers |
| Willems, Mo | Should I share my ice cream? |
| Willems, Mo | I Love My New Toy! |
| Patchett, Ann | The Dutch house : a novel |
| Willems, Mo | I really like slop! |
