Books are cool again.
A study released last week by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found that more than eight out of 10 Americans between ages 16 and 29 have read a book in the past year.
Kathryn Zickuhr, the study’s main author, found that high schoolers and college-aged young adults are especially likely to have read a book or gone to the library.
Ben Walker, head of the Education Library at UF, said there has been an 8 percent increase in the education library’s attendance from students since the beginning of the year.
“It feels busier,” he said. “I feel like our usage is on an uptake.”
The study attributes the increase in reading and library attendance to young adults’ interest in “mobile technology” like e-readers and smartphones.
“They are convenient to use and it’s increased the opportunity for students to view new material,” he said. “And that’s an important thing.”
Richard Freeman, the anthropology librarian at Library West for the past seven months, said he heard the results of the study on NPR.
“All I can say is ‘Woo-hoo,’” he said.
Freeman said renting e-books is becoming more popular at UF.
“There’s a good amount of students who use them, sometimes it’s all that’s available — especially with academic journals,” he said.
College-aged adults ages 18 to 24 have the highest overall reading rate of any age group, according to the study. The study found they had an increased interest in e-books and audiobooks as compared with younger readers.
Kristen Heath, 25, a senior clerk in the UF admissions office, likes to read her Amazon Kindle outside of Library West.
Heath said she has never rented an e-book from the library, but it is something she is considering after hearing about it from her friends.
“I actually prefer print most of the time,” she said. “That being said, the e-reader is much more convenient because I can carry multiple books at one time, and the books always open to where I left them.”
