Since the passing of HB29 in 2024, 19 books have been banned statewide in Utah public schools to protect students from “sensitive materials.” The most recent book, Thirteen Reasons Why was added in October, 2025. The result of these bans is that the books are removed from public school shelves and students are prohibited from bringing them to school.
But the other result? The banned books become all the more popular in Salt Lake City bookstores.
“There’s more interest in banned books. When a book gets banned, it has a second life,” says Calvin Asch, owner of Central Book Exchange in Sugar House. His store features a banned book section located just inside the entrance, which Calvin notes is one of the hottest sections of the whole bookstore. “The state of Utah has become our best marketing team.”
Ken Sanders, owner of the storied Ken Sanders Rare Books in downtown Salt Lake, agrees that banning a book only bolsters its popularity. “I’ve been in this trade since the 1970’s,” says Sanders, “and let me tell you, there’s nothing like it for sales as when some foolish idiot bans a book. It’s just great for sales, and it doesn’t matter what the book is.”
Apollo Frenzel, a worker at Weller Book Works in Trolley Square, notes that their banned books section sells quite well. Frenzel also remembers that Ellen Hopkins, whose titles Tricks, Tilt and Fallout are all banned books statewide, gained traction after her books were ousted from Utah public schools. “All of a sudden, it was like, it’s banned statewide. And then people were like, I’ve never heard of her, let’s read her books. Then people were buying her left and right.”
So why is it that banned books become more popular?
Because, as Siena Di Sera, a co-worker of Frenzel’s at Weller Book Works, says, “It’s like a dare, or like telling a teenager not to do something, that ends up getting kids to read. It makes reading cool again.”
Sanders agrees. He remembers when a librarian forbade him from reading Frankenstein or Dracula as a young boy. “You think I didn’t figure out a way to get my hands on those books? The minute the librarian says that, it becomes forbidden fruit, and now you have to read it. Banning books is really good for business.
While they admit that banned books may bolster their sales, the booksellers all adamantly agree that the practice of banning books has harmful ramifications for expression, learning, and free speech.
Courtney Stookey, owner of the Lovebound Library, sums it up nicely, “More people come in wanting to read the books after they are banned. It is one of the only positives that could come with this. But literature is a powerful took, and at the end of the day, if you’re taking away the possibility of reading, that is not good.”
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