Now It's Digital Book Worms

by Jack Loechner, Jan 17, 2013, 6:15 AM

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According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, in the past year the number of those who read e-books increased from 16% of all Americans ages 16 and older to 23%. At the same time, the number of those who read printed books in the previous 12 months fell from 72% of the population ages 16 and older to 67%. Overall, the number of book readers in late 2012 was 75% of the population ages 16 and older, a small and statistically insignificant decline from 78% in late 2011.

The number of owners of either a tablet computer or e-book reading device such as a Kindle or Nook grew from 18% in late 2011 to 33% in late 2012. As of November 2012, 25% of Americans, 16 and older, own tablet computers such as iPads or Kindle Fires, up from 10% who owned tablets in late 2011. And in late 2012 19% of Americans ages 16 and older own e-book reading devices such as Kindles and Nooks, compared with 10% who owned such devices at the same time last year.

EReading Device Ownership (% of Americans Owning Selected Device)
Date of Survey	EBook Readers	Tablet	Either Tablet or EBook
May, 2010	4%	3%	6%
May, 2011	12	8	17
December, 2011	10	10	18
November, 2012	19	25	33
Source: PewResearch, January 2013

The move toward e-books has affected libraries. The share of recent library userswho have borrowed an e-book from a library has increased from 3% last year to 5% this year, and awareness of e-book lending by libraries is growing. The share of those in the overall population who are aware that libraries offer e-books has jumped from 24% late last year to 31% now.

In the book-reading population, those most likely to read e-books include those with college or graduate degrees, those who live in households earning more than $75,000, and those whose ages fall between 30 and 49.

The tables included are based on those who say they had read a book in the past 12 months, not the full population of those ages 16 and older.

EBook Readers (Among Readers of At Least 1 Book in Previous 12 Months, % Who Read At Least 1 EBook)
Reader	% EBook Readers In November 2012
All readers	21%
Men	31
Women	31
Age
16-17	28
18-29	31
30-39	41
50-64	23
65+	24
Race/Ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic	31
Black, non-Hispanic	30
Hispanic	24
Annual HH Income
< $30M/yr	19
$30-49.9M	28
$50-74.9M	38
$75,000+	44
Education
No high school diploma	21
High school grad	20
Some college	31
College+	42
Urbanity
Urban	34
Suburban	32
Rural	20
Source: Pew Research, January 2013

The survey showed that 75% of Americans ages 16 and older had read a book in any platform in the previous 12 months. That is not statistically significantly different from the 78% who in late 2011 said in a survey they had read a book in the previous 12 months. Of them:

• 89% of the book readers said they had read a printed book. This translates into 67% of all those ages 16 and older
• 30% of the book readers said they had read an e-book. This translates into 23% of all those ages 16 and older
• 17% of the book readers said they had listened to an audio book. This translates into 13% of all those ages 16 and older

All told, those book readers consumed an average of 15 books in the previous 12 months and a median of 6 books. Half had read fewer than six and half had read more than six. That breaks down as:

• 7% of Americans ages 16 and older read one book in the previous 12 months
• 14% had read 2-3 books in that time block
• 12% had read 4-5 books
• 15% had read 6-10 books
• 13% had read 11-20 books
• 14% had read 21 or more books

Percent of All Americans Reading At Least One Book in Previous 12 Months All or Part of the Way Through
	% Book Readers	Average Books Read
All readers	75%	15
Men	70	13
Women	81	17
Age
16-17	90	13
18-29	80	13
30-39	77	16
50-64	72	15
65+	67	18
Race/Ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic	78	16
Black, non-Hispanic	74	11
Hispanic	60	13
Annual HH Income
< $30M/yr	66	14
$30-49.9M	78	18
$50-74.9M	81	15
$75,000+	84	15
Education
No high school diploma	55	10
High school grad	66	17
Some college	82	13
College+	90	18
Urbanity
Urban	78	14
Suburban	75	16
Rural	72	17
Source: Pew Research, January 2013

This move toward e-books has also affected libraries. The share of recent library users who have borrowed an e-book from a library has increased from 3% last year to 5% this year. And, there is growing public awareness that the vast majority of public libraries now lend e-books. In the entire population of those ages 16 and older, the number who are aware that libraries offer e-book loans increased from 24% last year to 31% now. And, 57% say they don’t know if their library offers e-books, vs. 63% of those ages 16 and above did not know if their library offered e-books for borrowing last year.

For more information about this study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, please visit here.

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