2009, A Renaissance For Reading?

According to a Media Bistro article, book sales in 2009 were "impressive."  Adult hardcover sales rose by 3%, and adult fiction sales held steady.  This is being considered a pretty big success for the industry, both because this was such a lousy year for the economy, and because the publishing industry is widely considered to be dead - or at least circling the drain.

This maps with my own personal experience, which is that I have shifted more towards books over the last year, and away from more expensive entertainments.  This effort got a big push last September, when my television died, and I couldn't be bothered to replace it.  Which led to me cancelling my Netflix subscription, thus saving about $25 a month - money which I can put back into use at the book store!

I have spoken to several other people, who also mention that they did more reading this year than in previous years.  For a significant number of people, their increased reading list was driven by "Internet Fatigue."  One friend decided to close his World of Warcraft account, and found himself with more time to read.  Another spends all day online for her job, and by the time she gets home, the last thing she wants to do is spend time on the internet.

I wasn't able to find any single library circulation number for 2009, but again the anecdotal evidence here seems strong.  A friend of mine who works for the Seattle Public Library said that their circulation numbers are so high that it's causing a serious book shortage in the stacks!  I also found articles online about the record high circulation numbers at the Chicago Public Library.  Books are a great entertainment device, and library books are free!  It doesn't get any more frugal than that!

These sales figures only account for new book sales, obviously.  With the New Frugality in effect, I have heard a lot of anecdotal evidence to the effect that library circulation and used book sales are both surging.  A few months ago I struck up a conversation with a cashier at Half Price Books, who strongly agreed that sales were through the roof.  

Used bookstores are still walking a tightrope when it comes to purchases, though.  Although a lot of people are now buying used books when they might have bought new, even more people are trying to sell off their book collections to help make ends meet. 

I have learned to ask for store credit rather than cash when selling books - most book buyers are far more willing to buy something for credit than they are for cash right now.  After all, store credit helps turn over the merchandise and make room for new books!  And there's always the chance that credit slips will be lost before they can be redeemed, unlike cash.

Rumors of the death of the publishing industry may have been exaggerated.  And as long as we're talking about it, I think I'm going to sign off and curl up with a book, myself!