From: Jim O'Donnell <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 21:10:10 -0400

Rise in E-Book Readership Is Good News for Reading Over All, Report Says
By Jennifer Howard

More Americans are reading e-books than ever before, on more kinds of
devices, a new report from the Pew Research Center has found. That
news won't come as a shock, given the rapid spread of e-readers and
tablet computers and the rise of e-content. What might be a surprise,
though:  The report contains good news for print lovers, too. Readers
of e-books like to read in all formats, they favor print books for
sharing and to read to children, and on average they read more books
over all than print-only readers do. “They're heavier readers. They're
more frequent readers,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet
& American Life Project, the group behind the report. “These devices
have allowed them to scratch that itch.” The report, “The Rise of
e-Reading,” analyzes findings from a survey of almost 3,000 people
nationwide in November and December 2011 , along with data from
follow-up surveys of about 2,000 people in January and February 2012.
Twenty-one percent of respondents reported, as of February 2012, that
they had read an e-book in the past year.  That figure was up from 17
per cent in December 2011, before the holiday surge in purchases of
e-readers and tablets. The average e-book reader said he or she had
read 24 books (electronic and print) in the past 12 months. Those who
didn't read e-books averaged 15 books over the same time period.

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