Wither Reading? A WordsRated Study

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Nick Rizzo from WordsRated has posted about a 2022 study of American reading habits. Based on a survey including members of Gen Z, Millenials, Gen X, and Boomers, the study casts a cold eye on the future of reading as a pastime.

The study differs from some industry (or perhaps library) survey in that it excludes listening to audiobooks and counts a book as read only if has been finished.

A few of the findings:

  • More Americans have not read a book in the past year than have read one

  • Nearly a quarter of Americans haven’t read a book in the last three years, while over 10% haven’t read one in the last decade

  • Fewer younger people are reading, and they read less than older Americans, with the average Boomer completing nearly three times as many books in the last year than the average Gen Z respondent.

The study does not look at causes. Based on observation, one might speculate that other activities are supplanting reading among younger respondents, including gaming, social media, streaming video, perhaps audiobooks, and different learning styles being privileged in schools. This is not to attack the choices of younger people. It does suggest, however, what ReadersFirst has warned previously: that “we are approaching what could be a crisis in the book industry.”

The study suggests one bright spot: that people who finish even one book in a year often then read still more, having a reading habit in which they will continue. In light of its other findings, the study is perhaps overly optimistic in concluding “The silver lining in the data is that all it appears to take is 1 book. If we can convince people to pick up and read one book, they are significantly more likely to catch the reading bug and carry on from there.” Convincing people to pick up even the one appears to be getting more and more difficult.

Publishers making ebooks available through libraries—not all, and we thank those who are true partners—often point to a lack of “friction” as a justification for what libraries consider unreasonable terms. They aver it is just “too easy” for people to get titles. Why, people don’t even have to go to the library! Let us ignore for now the many “frictions” that are in place—lack of availability of many titles due to long waiting lists, lack of user technological ability, libraries putting limits on the number of titles borrowed to keep within budget—not to mention that most library ebook readers also avidly visit libraries and get far more book in print form.

Let us look instead at how this so-called reason is bad for authors and publishers. If reading as a pastime is to have a future, we need LESS friction and MORE people reading—even just one book. Libraries help create and sustain readers. Not to worry, publishers—they will discover books through us and buy. Isn’t it time to try something new—give libraries reasonable ebook terms and at least see if we can’t generate reading? It’s your livelihood but it is ours, too. Libraries still mean books. Without them, in print and digital, our programs, web access points, maker spaces, and hundreds of educational and social services will not create enough visits to justify our existence. Negotiate with us. Long term, we might both win (though it will take work having the reading bug be catching in the future) . . . but separate, we shall surely lose. And reading will wither.