• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 30, 2011

The results of The Harris Poll in July, 2011 show 15% of Americans uses an e-Reader device, up from 8% a year ago. Also, among those who do not have an e-Reader, 15% say they are likely to get an e-Reader device in the next six months.

While some lament the introduction of the e-Reader as a death knell for books, the opposite is true, says the report. First, those who have e-Readers do, in fact, read more. Overall, 16% of Americans read between 11 and 20 books a year with one in five reading 21 or more books in a year. But, among those who have an eReader, 32% read 11-20 books a year and over one-quarter read 21 or more books in an average year.

E-Reader users are also more likely to buy books. One-third of Americans say they have not purchased any books in the past year compared to only 6% of e-Reader users who say the same. One in ten Americans purchased between 11 and 20 books in the past year. Again, e-Reader users are more likely to have bought, or downloaded books, as 17% purchased between 11 and 20 .

One of the criticisms of e-Readers is that people who have them may download more books than they would traditionally purchase, but read at the same levels. So far this criticism is not holding true at all.

Half of both e-Reader users and non-users say they read the same amount as they did six months ago. However, while 24% of non e-Reader users say they are reading less than they did before, over one-third of e-Reader users say they are reading more compared to just 16% of non-users.

In conclusion, the report observes that E-Readers are definitely here to stay and this means the publishing world needs to learn to change with the times. There will always be a place for books in hard cover or paperback. But, there must also be a place for reading devices as well. Readers are quickly catching on to this wave as have the booksellers. This is a huge transition time for publishing companies.

Regardless of how they are reading it, says the report, there are types of books people like to read. Among those who say they read at least one book in an average year, three-quarters say they read both fiction (76%) and non-fiction (76%) but certain types of books rise to the top in both categories.

Please visit Harris Interactive here for more information.