Libraries seeing increase in print circulation despite digital world

Despite the world becoming more and more digital focused everyday, print books are not suffering because of it. Local librarians report although eBooks, online versions of books, are rising, so is print.

Jeffrey Meyer, Director of the Mt. Pleasant Public Library said despite the shift to a more digital world, circulation for print has remained steady and is even on the rise.

'Print books are still sort of the standard material that's checked out in libraries,” he said.

Meyer said data is recorded and kept in a software system which allows library staff to assess what is and is not popular.

'Each month I look at the numbers and I prepare reports and print books are just as robust as they were in terms of library circulation,” he said.

This comes has a 'pleasant surprise” to Meyer, who said people have been saying for so long that the internet would discourage people from reading physical copy yet the statistics show otherwise. On the other hand, there have always been skeptics who say technology will decrease readership.

Meyer referenced an article he read from the 1880s that stated print would soon cease to exist thanks to the phonograph machine. However, about 70 percent of the material checked out at the Mt. Pleasant Public Library are print books, he said. Children's books top the list with 21,000 checkouts annually.

Washington Public Library Director Bryna Walker also reported seeing an increase in print material checked out. Walker said she regularly checks in with librarians around the nation through online sources and has found this is not uncommon.

'We saw an increase in all print and that's going on across the nation. I think there's more marketing of eBooks right now with Amazon and Barnes & Noble but that's not indicative of the research we're seeing. Print books are still on the rise and we as librarians don't see that changing,” she said.

Walker has only been with the library a year-and-a-half and said when she first accepted the job, circulation numbers were down. By weeding down the non-fiction titles, creating book bins for kids to be able to grab a book on the go and general organizing, staff have been able to bring them back up, she said.

Print books remain the most popular items checked out at both libraries but Meyer reported the other 30 percent of circulated materials in Mt. Pleasant are represented through DVDs, audiobooks and eBooks, the latter of which are on the rise as well. Both libraries use Bridges, an online consortium that libraries can subscribe to which allows members to access material digitally.

Meyer said the library pays an annual fee which allows patrons to access its digital content. Just like physical books, the publisher still maintains the copyright so patrons may have to request a book and wait for it to be available for use, he said.

A big misconception when eBooks came out was that endless copies would be available, he said. Bridges purchases copies of the book to be read online but they all retain their monetary value despite being digital. Only a certain amount of copies are available to read at one time, he said.

In 2019 alone, Meyer reported patrons checked out 8,700 eBooks which is about equal to the number of large-print adult fiction books checked out at 8,500. The rise of both these mediums does not come as a surprise to him because of the demographic of the area, he said.

'Both of those have been rising because more people have cellphones and laptops so they're reading stories like that, but at the same time, we have an aging population so large-print books are actually increasing too,” he said.

Walker reported a 39% rise in eBook use for 2019 in Washington. Marketing and word-of-mouth have been key in their success, she said.

'As far as libraries in general there's an increase in eBook use,” she said. 'The interesting thing is here the demographic that is reading more of that is 45 and older. (Studies have found) ages 18-44 prefer

a print book. So we see that as a positive sign.”

For college students or those looking to do research, eBooks are gaining momentum, she said, because they are easier to flip through and carry versus a physical text book. However, although there is a rise Walker said she does not foresee it taking over the way people expected.

'To me print is not going to go away and there's also an artistic component of holding the book and looking at the cover and being able to go back and rereading for comprehension. There's an emotional part too of being involved with the characters. There's multifaceted reasons for print,” she said.