This Research Proves That Print Books *Aren’t Dead*
Kindle, Oyster, iPad, smartphone, oh my! With a range of devices dedicated to all things digital, reading books online has become super common. And though it’s awesome to be able to pull up any book, anywhere, we can’t help but mourn the loss of turning actual pages. Totally feel our pain? If you love jaw-dropping libraries, the blissful bookish smell and flipping through heartwarming hard copy books (like these 11 reads that’ll keep you as warm as your PSL), you’ll love a recent survey we came across too. Its awesome findings prove that printed books AREN’T actually dead — and Americans are still reading them. A lot.
Yep, you read that correctly. The research, conducted by the Pew Research Center, shows that, even with social media addiction and long hours on the job, Americans are still actively reading. Of 1,520 American adults who answered a telephone survey over a month in early 2016, 73 percent of respondents said that they’ve read a book within the last year — a percentage that’s unchanged in the last four years. The survey also showed that 65 percent of respondents had read a printed book specifically, which is double the amount of people who had made their way through an ebook (28 percent) and four times more than people who had experienced audio books (14 percent).
So who are the readers, and what are their reading habits like? The Pew Research Center shows that college grads have proven likely to read more books in general — both printed and digital. And though young adults have grown up with the newest technology and consume more digital content, they also read printed books regularly as well. When it came to gender, both men and women proved to read print and digital books equally.
While it’s true that book reading through digital formats is definitely on the rise, nearly 40 percent of Americans still read printed books exclusively, while a small six percent of people no longer turn literal pages at all. Despite the fact that cell phone reading has soared since 2011, bookworms and researchers using e-readers have remained stable.
The number of Americans who read online express an interest in looking up specific topics or niche interests, which includes news and current events, at a rate that’s 10 percent higher than it was just five years ago. Even more, 29 percent of Americans say that do it every day, along with 57 percent who read for work or school. So it looks like Americans, especially younger ones, are reading more to learn.
The good news? Even though we’re more plugged in than ever before, there are still tons of regular readers and bookworms among us. Even better? Hardly any of us are ready to give up the feeling of crisply printed pages in our hands anytime soon.
Do you read printed books, digital content or both? Tell us which you prefer and why on Twitter @BritandCo!
(Photos via Getty)