A bright screen lights up the faces of readers. The word “instant access” in large black letters catches the eye. All they have to do is click “add to cart” and type in their information, and the book is immediately sent to their digital library, with 24/7 access forever.
This instantaneous access to e-books through large retailers has raised the question of whether paper books will become something of the past.
According to tonerbuzz.com, the paper books market is made up of about 1.8 billion people, while the e-reader market is made up of 1.2 billion people.
Local businesses in Gainesville can attest that the magic of grabbing a tangible book while sharing a space with fellow readers is not going anywhere, anytime soon.
Jan Fronk has been the owner of Book Gallery West, a bookstore with gifts and second-hand books, for 21 years. Despite the rise of online book retailers like Amazon, e-books have not been able to overtake her store.
“We survived, because we offer something that you can’t get from those impersonal ways of buying books,” Fronk said.
Fronk said people continued to come back to her store after the rise of Kindle.
“They tried it, they didn’t like it,” Fronk said. “They like having hard copy books that they can keep and refer back to... People still love books.”
Fronk also said the in-person presence in bookstores makes it a “very social experience.” The atmosphere of the store, and the people in it, are the reason customers enjoy going in person to shop for books, Fronk said.
A patron of Book Gallery West, Patricia Henderson also said she enjoys coming into the bookstore to buy books.
Henderson said she’s not an avid e-book user, but her husband and kids are. She also said some of her friends prefer to hold books in their hands.
She enjoys going to Book Gallery West to explore the store and to get different books.
“It's really nice to look around and see,” she said. “It’s nice to get a chance sometimes to trade your books in, too.”
The Alachua County Library District is another facility many readers frequent. Consumers are surrounded by books and others who share the same enjoyment of immersing themselves in the world of novels.
Paul Lightcap, the Technical Services Senior Manager of the Alachua County Library District, said the library has seen unique trends in relation to e-book and print book checkouts by library goers. The genres of novels appear to have a great factor in whether people consume e-books or paper books, he said.
“While it seems that new, popular adult fiction and nonfiction titles are surging in use in digital form and in less demand in print editions, we've noted increases in the use of some physical formats, including DVDs, graphic novels and manga and read-along picture books,” Lightcap said.
According to the Pew Research Center, young people tend to read more e-books, which could explain the trend amongst library goers’ transactions.
The Lynx Books is another Gainesville bookstore that agreed e-books will not be replacing the role of paper books.
Jackie Davison, the Lynx’s operations manager, said there are multiple reasons why e-books will never replace paper books.
Davison said books are like art to some readers.
“The object itself has been carefully designed from the paper choice to the font, to the cover, ” she said. “People will always want to see beautiful objects in their homes.”
According to an article from YouGov, about 70% of Americans own fewer than 100 books, while a quarter own at least 100.
Davison said the in-person and individualized atmosphere of interacting with bookstore employees is another factor why she believes people will continue to buy paper books from bookstores.
”The Lynx provides a unique experience wherein you get personalized recommendations from our friendly books sellers,” Davison said. “That is not an experience that can be matched digitally.”
Philip Worm, owner of Books and Music, Wormhole, a small bookstore that doubles as an art gallery space and place for book readers to browse, brought up concerns about selling paper books online.
“Selling online sucks. Prices fluctuate,” Worm said. “It also takes out the magic.”
Selling books online became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. People were forced to social distance, and bookstores were unable to hold customers.
Worm described the satisfaction of going in person to a bookstore and finding the exact book that an individual is looking for.
“When I was younger, you’d hear rumors of a book,” he said. “You’d spend years finding that book, and you’d finally wander into a used book store, and then it would be sitting there.”
Worm said he’s optimistic about his store’s frequent customers.
“I think bookstores only exist because people care about books,” he said.
Contact Sofia Meyers at smeyers@alligator.org. Follow her on X @SofiaMeyer84496.
