Banned Books Week originally started by the American Library Association. In Sweden, the week is organized under the leadership of Swedish PEN and the network Banned Books Week Sweden.
The goal of the initiative is to safeguard freedom of speech, free expression, and encourage reading of books that have been banned or challenged in various parts of the world. This year’s theme places particular focus on the fantasy genre.
Adlibris integrates its assortment
Adlibris has a long-term collaboration with Swedish PEN. The themed week takes place in both physical stores and online.
On the e-commerce site, Adlibris has a landing page with banned books that is available year-round, which has now been updated and highlighted extra on the homepage as well as in the company's newsletter. In the physical stores, they are working with special book tables and signage, including at Landvetter.
Maria Norinder is Head of Assortment at Adlibris and notes that the attention is reflected in the sales statistics.
Sales of titles on Swedish PEN’s list have almost doubled in the stores during the week. Online, sales are generally stable, but several of the banned classics are selling significantly more than in previous weeks. Libraries are also showing a clear increase in interest, says Maria Norinder.
Among the titles showing the biggest sales increase online at Adlibris are well-known works such as The Handmaid's Tale, The Catcher in the Rye, Persepolis and The Brothers Lionheart.
Bokus sees clear sales spikes
At competitor Bokus, they are also actively working to highlight the assortment during Banned Books Week.
Bokusgruppen has created a dedicated landing page for the purpose and communicates the initiative through posts on social media as well as newsletters sent out over the weekend.
Camilla Jansson works as Category Manager for books at Bokusgruppen and confirms that the strategy is influencing customer purchasing behavior.
We are seeing clear increases in sales during the week for titles highlighted during Banned Books Week on Bokus, says Camilla Jansson.
For Bokus, a number of different titles stand out when customers search for banned literature.
The books with the biggest sales spikes at the online bookstore right now include Wallflower, The Handmaid's Tale, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Persepolis, The Hate U Give, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.