How Canadian Readers Discover and Obtain Books, New Data From BookNet Canada Leisure Study

From a BookNet Canada Blog Post by Shimona Hirchberg:

Who are this year’s readers? The majority of readers surveyed identify as female, are partnered, are parents, and work full-time with a household income between $25,000 and $50,000. Most readers live in cities or urban areas (48%), followed by suburban areas (32%).

Over half of all readers have at least one child (53%) and 37% have children living at home. Adults living with partners make up 29% of readers, while 19% live alone, 8% live with a roommate(s), and 7% are empty nesters.

Almost a quarter of readers are between 25 and 34 years old (23%), closely followed by the 35- to 44-year-old age bracket (22%), and those 55 to 64 years old (20%).

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How Canadian Readers Acquire Books

Where do readers acquire most of their books? Does it differ depending on the book format? Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: Readers mostly acquire print books from the library (27%), physical bookstores (21%), or an online retailer (18%). They also get books from “someone else” (16%) — maybe family, friends, or that coworker who keeps pushing A Game of Thrones on everyone.

Readers mostly acquire ebooks from an online retailer or app (36%), from a website offering free downloads (24%), the library (21%), or a subscription service (12%).

For audiobooks, readers mostly acquire them from the library (24%), a subscription service (22%), a website offering free downloads (18%), or an online retailer (11%).

Read the Complete Blog Post
Including data (and infographic) on how Canadians discovery books (by format). 

See Also: Canadians and Their Leisure Time: Leisure Study Part 1

Filed under: Data Files, Libraries, News