And they should. Printed books are great to snuggle up with in front of a fire on a cold winter’s night, but an e-book or Playaway is a much better choice when I’m on a trip and each additional pound in my luggage may equate to surcharges. Luckily, we have four different book formats at the library, in addition to print, so I never have to look far to find the format that suits the occasion.
Technological advances
Like everything else, the easier it is to download and use an e-book the more people will use it. Our librarians are here to help you through the process if you want to give it a go.
Emotional/aesthetic draw to books
Despite the cliché, people do judge books by those beautifully designed covers. The survey found that 63 percent did not think print books would ever disappear because of people’s emotional attachment to physical books. It is hard to imagine crawling into bed with your child for a bedtime story using an e-book reader, but you never know....
Content is king
Respondents across the board emphasized that the content is more important than how it is packaged. If the content is more easily accessible or digestible in print, then the consumer will opt for print even if they are typically more inclined to using electronic books.
Cost
At this point, print books are still cheaper than their CD and electronic counterparts. That will likely change as technology evolves and demand for e-books grows. If you are borrowing the book or e-book from the library, the cost is a bit of a moot point.
Generational shifts
One in 10 respondents said that the younger generations may not have the same strong emotional draw to books that the current generation does. Younger generations are already comfortable using electronic devices and these tech-savvy consumers may end up accelerating the market demand for electronic formats.
What is the takeaway from this survey? Books are here to stay, even if in varying forms. This has been true for the last 200 years of Washington-Centerville Public Library's history and I suspect will be true for the next 200 years. For suggestions on Great Books in any of the formats discussed above, visit www.wclibrary.info .
Georgia Mergler is the community relations manager at the Washington-Centerville Public Library.
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