SLA conference

Belfast

Are e-books the death of the

physical book?

SLA conference

Belfast

aln@monkswalk.herts.sch.uk

@dusty_jacket

Are e-books the death of the

physical book?

http://ebookfriendly.com/funny-commercial-tablets-

will-never-replace-paper-video/

Paper books

Publisher pulp 77million books a year

40% of books printed are pulped

In US 30million trees cut down for books

1.6million metric tons of paper used for books in

US

4billion worldwide for paper

Most cut down from unfarmed sources

70% comes from unfarmed

In Canada, UK’s biggest source of pulp 90%

comes from ancient forests

Sales in the UK

In 2012 digital sales soared +188%

All book sales increase up 6.1%

E-book non fiction rise of 128%

NLT research

39% young people read daily using electronic

devices

28% printed materials daily

E-book reading doubled to 12%

52% rather read on screen

32% read in print

4 out of 10 own a tablet or smartphone

Boys more likely to read on screen

Jonathan Douglas (NLT)

We are very concerned by our findings that children

who only

read on-screen are significantly less likely to enjoy

reading and

less likely to be strong readers. Good reading skills

and reading

for pleasure are closely linked to children’s success

at school

and beyond. We need to encourage children to

become avid

readers, whatever format they choose.

Sales revisited

Paper book sales decline 0.04%

Misinterpretation of data

Ebook sales risen

Physical book sales remain same

So those people who’ve always read paper still

do

Types of ebooks that have heralded

unprecedented rise such as Fifty Shades

Ebooks giving platform to read what/when/how

Misinterpretation of data cont…

NLT says

Young people reading electronically = weaker

readers

Young people reading electronically = not for

pleasure

Isn’t this obvious though

New readers are being formed by electronic

devices who may not realise they are actually

reader. Of course they are weaker they never use

to read!

A library

a. A place in which literary and artistic materials,

such as books, periodicals, newspapers,

pamphlets, prints, records, and tapes, are kept for

reading, reference, or lending.

b. A collection of such materials, especially when

systematically arranged.

c. A room in a private home for such a collection.

d. An institution or foundation maintaining such a

collection.

Our role, especially in schools

Provide material for all types of learners

Do all we can in every way we can to encourage

reading

To promote reading for pleasure i.e. to show

young people they can read what they want in

whatever way they want

We should not be prescriptive as to how this

happens or what this looks like that is not our role

Talking books, board books, hardback books, paper

back books,

magazines, newspapers, computers, e-books,

tablets, braille,

large print books, signs, leaflets, manga, graphic

novels,

comics, fiction, non fiction,

The more ways there are to read surely means the

more readers

there can potentially be…