NUMEROUS reports have warned that people are abandoning reading in favor of screen-based entertainment. Nevertheless, books remain a powerful means of escape, according to a recent British survey.
The Publishers Association, a British trade organisation, recently questioned 2,271 adults living in the UK about their relationship with reading. According to the results, a third of them (33%) say they happily lose themselves in a book when they're having a bad day.
Only television is a more popular means of escape than reading, with 54% of the vote. Going to the movies or listening to a podcast are the activities least favored by respondents when it comes to clearing their minds of worries.
This strong attachment to reading is also reflected in the relationship respondents have with books, and especially with the books they have finished reading. Should they part with them to make room for new ones – a practice librarians call 'weeding' – or pile them up at home, hoping they'll have room for them all? The question is open to debate. But the Publishers Association survey reveals that 41% of Britons keep the books that they read in their possession, and are only too willing to make room on their bookshelves.
Those who opt otherwise don't usually just throw books in the trash, even though 7% of respondents use this sorting method from time to time. British readers are more likely to give books they have already read to friends and family (34%), or to donate them to charity (33%). Only 12% of those surveyed put books they want to get rid of on private resale sites and specialized sales platforms.
All these figures show that books are holding up much better than other cultural goods, such as CDs and DVDs. While the amount of time devoted to reading is declining, particularly among young people, book sales are on the rise in the UK.
Around 669 million physical books were sold in 2022, the highest level ever recorded in the country. UK publishing as a whole was in fine fettle last year, with sales of £6.9 billion (about US$8.7 billion), up 4% on 2021.
For Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, these results testify to the special place that books continue to hold despite their digital competitors. "Books are a great way for us all to escape from our everyday routines, and if we are able to share that with our friends, families, and more widely, we could be making a huge difference to people’s lives without even realizing it," he said in a statement. – ETX Daily Up, June 13, 2023
