The Effect of face-front display on circulation of books in a public library

by Sarah P. Long
Masters thesis, University of North Carolina, 1986.

Hypothesis accepted: Facing the front of books toward the browser increases circulation over spine front display.


Experiment supporting hypothesis

Location: Parkwood Branch of Durham (North Carolina) Public Library

Groups:

• Experimental group: 150, at least four months old, adult current fiction already shelved near the front of library and marked with red dots on spine so shelvers would display these books face-out
• Control group: 150, at least four months old, adult current fiction already shelved near the front of library and marked with yellow dots on circulation cards
  

Experiment:

• Pre-test period: Measurement of two-months circulation for both groups displayed spine out
• Test period: Measurement of two-months circulation with experimental group displayed face-front and control group displayed spine-front
  

Results:

The average number of circulations per book for face-front displays increased 43%. Spine-front displays decreased 22% average number of circulations per book. Sarah Long's tracking of the weekly circulation of both groups clearly shows a dramatic increase in circulation when books were faced front.



Since face-front and spine-front books were displayed on the same shelves, increasing selection of face-front books drew attention from the spine-front books and reduced circulation from the latter.