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. <snip>