New Report: Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2020, 63% of Readers Borrowed a Book From local Library at Least Once This Past Year

New From BookNet Canada:

Using data from BookNet Canada’s survey of 1,266 adult, English-speaking Canadians, it asks in-depth questions about Canadians’ leisure activities, with a particular focus on reading behaviour and preferences such as where readers like to find and obtain books, what devices, apps, and subjects they prefer, and more.

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From a Summary Blog Post:

So, where are all these readers getting their books, and how do they discover new titles? We thought you’d never ask. Turns out that 63% of readers borrowed a book from their local library at least once this past year, and online retailers and apps are the second most popular way to access digital books. Indeed, 83% of readers report to have purchased at least one book in any format. Only 5% of ebook readers accessed books through subscription services, compared to 11% of audiobooks listeners who report using these services more.

There are things about acquiring books that have changed during the last couple years, yet others remain almost the same; for instance, the number of readers buying physical books and audiobooks has increased, but when comes to print readers, they’re buying less at physical bookstores (remember, this was during 2019 when physical distancing was not yet a thing); and lastly, the frequency of informal lending among friends remains similar compared to data collected in 2018.

Book recommendation is a common discussion topic among colleagues, friends, and family; word-of-mouth was selected by 34% of readers as the top way they discovered books. It was followed by the bookstore and library which tied for second place, each with 29%, followed by online retailers (22%) and social media (18%). Discovering books on social media is mostly popular among Canadians living in the Western and Northern Territories.

Direct to Full Text Report
50 pages; PDF.

Filed under: Data Files, Libraries, News