Abigail Cushman, Executive Editor
@abigailccourant
In March of 2020, Tik Tok took the world by storm as a prominent source of online engagement and entertainment. The app catered short videos to each user on their “For You” page, and these pages quickly developed a subset of niche communities that focused on different celebrities, TV shows, movies, arts, sports and more. Today, one niche, commonly known as Book Tok, remains particularly popular among teen readers and young adults.
Book reviews, genre aesthetics, and fictional characters make up Book Tok “For You” pages, but they primarily revolve around book recommendations. In fact, sophomore Lucy Carroll, who works at Elm Street Books, has had many customers ask her for books that came across on their Tik Tok. “If you know what a book is about and see that a large number of people agree you should read it, that always helps promote readership,” she said.
Likewise, co-founder of Elm Street Books Manda Riggs believes that as a result of Book Tok, teen readership has increased at the store almost a hundred-fold since 2020. “I would say we have seen an insane spike because, for instance, we never sold one of Colleen Hoover’s books prior to the Tik Tok wave, and she is one of the big Tik Tok talk-abouts,” she said.
Verity was the first Colleen Hoover book Ms. Riggs noticed when about 15 kids came in and asked her for it. Now, Elm Street Books has sold 37 of Verity, 16 of Ugly Love, and 92 of It Ends With Us – all written by Colleen Hoover. “I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, but for us that’s a lot of books, especially when the buyer is someone under 20, and really probably under 18,” Ms. Riggs said.
Book Tok has even brought books that were popular long before Tik Tok back on top of bestseller lists. “All the Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr was a best seller for years, and might even be one of our best selling books of all time. That really ticked back up on the bestseller list,” Ms. Riggs said. “We also had Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and all of a sudden we saw an uptick. Young people are definitely having an impact on sales.”
At the New Canaan Library, Teen Services Librarian Kathleen Crouse has noticed similar teen readership patterns. “Something might go on the shelf that I suspect has had popularity on Tik Tok and someone will snatch that up right away,” she said. “I think that is different from past years. Books are on everyone’s minds, and more so now if you’re on Book Tok.”
Despite such a spike in teen reading interest, Tik Tok has actually prevented hard working high schoolers from finding the time to enjoy a book. “I probably spend more time looking at Book Tok rather than reading a book,” Lucy said. “When Tik Tok became a thing, attention spans shortened – mine too.”
Ms. Riggs has also watched her own children face similar reading limitation factors. “I think what’s important for the young generation, because a lot of free time is taken up scrolling, is trying to figure out a way to squeeze in 15 minutes of reading,” she said. When her kids say they can’t sleep at night or they’re stressed, she tells them to read. “Put the phone away, pull your book out, and you’ll probably read for five minutes before you’re sound asleep because you’re so tired.”
The New Canaan Library also uses ebooks to solve for minimal reading time. On the library’s website, users can access a digital library through the apps Libby and Hoopla, which can be downloaded on an iPhone or iPad. “I think one of the things that’s really nice is that you can download audiobooks and even comics,” Ms. Crouse said. “They have a lot of teen books, and it’s super easy with your phone to constantly have a book in your pocket.”
According to Ms. Crouse, audiobooks are the easiest because you don’t have to think about finding the time to sit down and read. Libby audiobooks and ebooks are especially helpful because they are all curated by the New Canaan librarians. “We have our own teen tab, and you can see there is a pretty good sized collection. If we don’t have something, you can always request that we purchase it,” Ms. Crouse said.
Library members can fill out a form to receive physical books, making the process quick and easy. “You just come in and check out the books or we could have them checked out for you,” Ms. Crouse said. Right now, she has a book bag program going on that allows people to sign up ahead of time for a bag full of books. “If you don’t have time to come in and figure out what you want to read, we can lay it out for you.”
Outside of the library, bookstores have used technology to promote readership in a different way. The online platform Event Brite did a promotion with Elm Street Books to sell Brinae Brown’s new book Atlas of the Heart. “They set up the Event Brite for us and then people Zoomed in. We had 40 people that paid for the ticket and bought the book,” Ms. Riggs said.
As reading experiences waver between internet options and the tangible object, Ms. Riggs has observed that many prefer a physical book. This is particularly evident at Elm Street Books, where teens have chosen to sit on waitlists for physical books instead of reading them online. “Sometimes electronic downloads are 50% of the list price, but young people want the physical book,” Ms. Riggs said.
Both Elm Street Books and the New Canaan Library have utilized technology to expand reading opportunities while simultaneously giving readers the opportunity to grasp a physical book. Thanks to these efforts, as well as Book Tok, Ms. Riggs has seen teenagers become more engaged members of the reading community. “So as much as they’re inundated with a phone or computer, we have found that most teenagers like books and young adults love it.”
