Since the world was forced to social distance thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have had to conduct their meetings online via video calls as their employees work from home during lockdown. An unexpected side effect of this is the fact that sales of ‘background books’ have surged, as people want to make the room they’re sat in more interesting.
Background books are usually sold in bulk to production companies to fill the shelves of backgrounds in films or TV shows, but now people working from home are buying them to create a more interesting space to work in. As the BBC reports, Bookbarn International sells and loans books in bulk, usually to production companies, and has seen its books appear in the likes of Sex Education, His Dark Materials, and the Marvel films.
The company’s CEO, Nick Bates, said inquires from home works has risen significantly, going from a handful of purchases to at least ten a week from employees who want to liven up the background of their Zoom calls. Bates said customers feel a bit tired of the usual backgrounds for Zoom calls and said they can order anything from a shelf of books to a while library.
The company has nearly a million books on offer and shoppers can create their own collection based on genre, title, subjects, or covers. One customer told the BBC: “Finishing off my home office this way has created a structured, soothing space that has allowed me to work very productively from home.
“It has also generated a fair bit of banter at my expense on Zoom/ Teams calls which we all need in these times, keeps us going.”
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