How Behavioral Science Is Getting People Back To Public Libraries

Why don’t people use public libraries? If you’re like most people, your first answer might be to point to the Internet. And you would be wrong. It turns out, the biggest barriers for people using a public library have to do with something much more ordinary: late fines.

The Brooklyn library system conducted a test with a behavioral research firm and learned that an average fine of just $15 was keeping away the low income people who most needed to use the library system. To try and welcome them back, they waived all the fines. It worked. They also made useful tweaks like simplifying the form to apply for a library card and making the cards easier to activate. To entice people to actually return their books on time (or at all), they also found the most effective method was sending a text message with the images of the actual book covers.

Never underestimate the power of behavioural science.