| Predictions of the demise of the book are premature, according to an
analysis of reading habits by the independent Policy Studies Institute. |
| The latest issue of Cultural Trends shows that new media have
not yet succeeded in replacing the written word. Surveys in 1989 and
1995 found the same proportion of people - 39% - had finished reading
a book for pleasure within the last two weeks and the number who bought
more than 16 books a year increased from 28% in 1989 to 30% in 1995. |
| Meanwhile, the proportion of people owning home computers
remained static at 29% in 1994 with only 7% of households having
multi-media capability in 1995. And despite the popularity of new
media, young people remain avid readers. In 1995, 44% of 15-24 year
olds reported having finished reading a book for pleasure in the last
month, putting them ahead of the 25-43 age group (43%). |
| Cultural Trends 24, edited by Sara Selwood, contains an
examination of books, libraries and reading by Rachael Dunlop as well
as a new analysis of spending on the built heritage by Adrienne Muir.
It brings together an extensive range of statistical information
enabling important trends in reading habits to be identified. |
| The study suggests that if reading habits have changed little, it has
nevertheless become much harder to be well-read. In 1987, readers could choose
between 55,000 new books published in the UK. By 1995, they were faced with
over 95,000. |
| As more books were published, consumer expenditure on books also
rose, from £755m in 1985 to £1,673m in 1994. However, while the cost of
books rose above the rate of inflation (up by 28% between 1991 and 1995,
compared with retail price index growth of 12%), the number of loans from
public libraries declined from 11 books a head in 1988 to 9.5 in 1994. |
| Despite the rise of men's magazines, publishers still have some way to
go to encourage men to pick up a book. In 1995, over a third of men (35%)
claimed that it was five years or more since they had read a book for
pleasure, compared with one in five women. |
| ‘New media are still no match for the book and new technology has not yet made any impact on people's reading habits' said Rachael Dunlop. ‘The book remains as popular as ever and many more people will have opened a book on Christmas morning than a CD-ROM. While it is good to see that reading remains popular among young people, books are rising in price as CD-ROMS become more affordable and a computer literate generation may be better able to exercise consumer choice to meet its information needs.' |
| ENDS |
Contact: Neil Churchill or Sue Johnson on 0171 468 0468
Notes for Editors:
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