1. Ebooks are going to continue to explode. More
publishers are going to get on board to loaning to libraries. Advances will be
made in visual mediums so that picture books and graphic novels translate to a
digital platform.
2. The print book isn't going anywhere in the near
future. In a June 2013 Pew Study titled, Younger Americans' Library Habits and
Expectation, Source, 75% of young adults stated they had read a print
book in the past year. That is more than adult readers. If this young
tech-savvy generation is still reading print, books will be around for awhile.
Additionally, most did not want print books moved out of libraries to make room
for technology.
3. Reading may continue to decline due to the
availability of information online. According to this article, Source, the percentage of adults who have not read a book
in the last year has tripled since 1978. Why? People are busy, Internet. But,
reading is correlated with higher education levels, and many young adults are
going to college. Additionally, the percentage of people who claim they read
for pleasure is NOT declining.
4. The internet and social media will make it continually
easier to find book recommendations. Authors are also much more easily
accessible now. Authors will increasingly be more responsible for promotion and
marketing.
While eBook use is continually growing, print books are
holding steady. So even though more people are reading on devices, they are
continuing to read print.
Thanks for your research about print books! It's certainly something that I find reassuring, since I'm pretty attached to physical books. I thought it was especially interesting that young people are reading more physical books than digital ones; perhaps this has something to do with the types of materials they have access to. I also think it has something to do with the amount of leisure time young adults have available to them, since they tend to have fewer demands on their time and are more free to make the choice to read for pleasure.
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