Friday, March 27, 2015

Reading Notes

According to an article in today's Shelf Awareness newsletter, readers between the ages of 18 and 34 (the so-called "Millennials") prefer print books to e-books, and still value the bookstore experience. That bit of info is based on a Publishing Technology survey of 1000 millennials in the U.S.

The Shelf Awareness report goes on to say:
Millennials prefer to acquire print books from physical bookstores: 52% of respondents said they preferred to buy from chain bookstores, while 45% said they preferred used bookstores, and 53% said they preferred to check out books from libraries. Only 40% of respondents, meanwhile, said they preferred online retailers.
I've read that other studies have found e-book preference is rising in the group of readers who are over 55. Not sure this means anything, but I think it's interesting and encouraging that the younger generations still seem to love libraries and book stores.

5 comments:

  1. Maybe the over 55 set, which includes me, already have too many books. My shelves are full, books are stacked everywhere, and even though I donate most new acquisitions, there are still so many books! I mostly keep only nonfiction and really special fiction now. E-books require no storage.

    I love that young people still prefer books with pages and enjoy collecting them, though. :)

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    1. Good point. I'm in the way-over-55 set, and I definitely have more books than I know what to do with! I still love book stores, but I can't really add any more shelf space -- so e-books are very attractive.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. My dear daughter is sort of a "millennial" -- and she won't have an e-reader. I still love books and book stores and mourn the loss of independent shops as well as B&N but I am finding reading on my e-reader has a number of advantages. Bookshelf space is part of it. being able to conveniently carry it is another and, sadly, it is light enough to hold for long periods of time without hurting my arthritic hands. Also, I have found reading an e-reader in the car much easier than reading a book in the car. I have been reading on my Samsung tablet and my Nook glow light and the glow light is much preferable over the tablet. I never thought I would see the day when I would choose it over a book but I can read in bed and not disturb the husband and that is yet another plus.

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    3. Yes, I love that I can read in bed now without disturbing the hubby -- especially good when I wake up at 3 a.m. and can't get back to sleep. I sort of wish I'd gone with the Nook instead of the Kindle -- I liked it better, but I was afraid B&N might not be around much longer, and (sad to say) I think that's still a possibility.

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  2. That's heartening news. Browsing in a bookstore is a completely different experience than clicking through Related Books at a book retailer -- not only do you encounter books that marketing algorithms would have never suggested, but you meet people. I don't know about other readers, but there's aesthetic pleasure for me in walking into a place and seeing case upon case of books, or an entire wall of magazines. It makes my brain happy in a way that a list of 20 items on a website doesn't.

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