Book readers switch to buying own copies: Survey shows decline in lending from libraries

MORE book readers are buying their own copies rather than borrowing

titles from public libraries, according to research published yesterday.

Lending by libraries has fallen from 38 per cent of readers in 1981 to 30 per cent in 1992, while the proportion who bought their current book rose from 31 per cent to 41 per cent.

The trend has been consistent over the decade, although people over 55 continue to depend heavily on libraries, the 1993 Euromonitor Book Report says. Readers under the age of 34 are most likely to buy their books.

Total book sales have grown by 13.2 per cent over the decade and are predicted to rise a further 12 per cent by 2000. Two-thirds of books are bought by individuals with the remainder purchased by schools, universities and public libraries.

All parts of the public sector have shown falls in book buying although schools spent heavily in 1991-92 on new texts for the national curriculum.

The fall in public library spending was highest in London and the metropolitan districts. Average spending on books per student by university and polytechnic libraries fell by more than 40 per cent to pounds 34.59 in universities and pounds 18.90 in polytechnics.

For best-selling fiction, last year authors such as Dick Francis, Catherine Cookson and Wilbur Smith enjoyed paperback sales well into the hundreds of thousands. Jilly Cooper's Polo sold just over 800,000 copies in the seven months following its release in May, while 757,000 people bought As The Crow Flies by Jeffrey Archer between June and December.

Euromonitor estimates that 46 per cent of the population is reading a book at any given time. Three-quarters of women are reading fiction (one-third of which is romantic), while a quarter of the male population is reading a crime/thriller novel.

Readership is highest among the professional and managerial classes at 66 per cent reading a book at any one time, compared with 36 per cent for unskilled manual groups. London and Scotland have the highest proportion of book readers.

Horror and occult stories have shown the fastest growth in fiction although the sector is a minority taste. Interest in the modern novel has declined from 11 per cent in 1986 to 5 per cent.

The Euromonitor Book Report 1993; Euromonitor, 87-88 Turnmill Street, London EC1M 5QU; pounds 450.

(Graph omitted)