Readers in the UK have not been swayed by the rise of eBooks to give up on their print collections. According to a new report 84% of UK adults have a bookshelf full of books with the average being 86 titles.
When it comes to book ownership the largest collections were held by the 55-64 age group, with an average of 118 books, while the smallest were those of 16-24-year-olds, with an average of 50 books each.
UK residents have not been embracing eBooks in great numbers, with average UK adults owning 19 digital editions. The largest number of eBooks were held by 45-54 year olds, who had an average of 22, while 16-24-year-olds had the smallest, at just 12.
When book ownership reports like this are released, its important to note the types of books the average person has. The statistical average would include all those strange girls who post YouTube clips of how many books they bought that month, usually multi-volume series, as well as anyone who was counting all their leftover kid’s books from when they were learning to read. Add in e-books bought on impulse and the modal average is likely 30 titles. That’s not the same as reading anything much on a day-to-day basis. Remember, ‘books’ doesn’t mean novels, so Jamie Oliver and Gok Wan might be disproportionately represented in their libraries.
Michael Kozlowski has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past twelve years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
