Back in 2010, the MIT Media Lab predicted that print books would be dead within five years. Five years after that deadline, print books are still alive, and actually thriving.

Compared to the digital alternatives of ebooks and audiobooks, print is overwhelmingly the most preferred format in Ontario, even with younger readers. And it looks like print will be even more popular next year.

Books are big business in Ontario: according to Ontario Creates, book publishing has $1.1 billion in annual revenues (more than two-thirds of all Canadian book sales), employing 6,500 people with $260 million in salaries and $240 million in international exports.

We did a survey in the first week of January on reading habits, and found that about 80 per cent of Ontarians read books, and of those readers, seven out of 10 read print books in the last year, 28 per cent read ebooks and 16 per cent listened to audiobooks.

Most reading Ontarians don't just read print: they love it, with 56 per cent reading print only, and another 17 per cent saying print was their favourite compared to the other two, meaning that nearly three in four of us either prefer print, or prefer it so strongly we do all of our reading that way.

Meanwhile, just under 14 per cent of us prefer or only read ebooks, and a mere 7 per cent prefer or only listen to audiobooks.

But what does the future hold, especially for younger Ontarians who might be expected to shift to digital, away from print?

Fascinatingly, the data suggests the exact opposite is happening. The survey asked how reading habits had changed over the last year: were respondents reading more, less or the same of each format compared to a year ago? About half said their habits were unchanged, but the other half have shifted how they read, either up or down.

Print books were in balance: about the same percentage of people in Ontario said they were reading more print books as said they were reading fewer.

This was not the case for the digital options. For ebook readers, only 17 per cent said they were reading more while 26 per cent said less (a nearly 10 percentage point gap, suggesting ebook popularity is waning) while audiobooks fared even worse with a 15 point deficit: 24 per cent of audiobook listeners in this province said they were listening less, and only 9 per cent reported listening more.

Audiobooks have been a bright spot in the publishing industry globally, and I have predicted they will grow 30 per cent to $3.5 billion (U.S.) in 2020, but perhaps in Ontario the future looks — or sounds — less good.

But what about younger readers? Of Canadians 18 to 34 years old, more of them say they are reading more print books than say they are reading less. Meanwhile, this same age group says their audiobook and ebook reading is declining.

Young Canadians are shifting toward print faster than any other age groups, and moving away from ebooks and audiobooks faster than any other age group.

There are various reasons for this. Studies show that young people say they like the smell and feel of print books, as well as pride of ownership and the ability to display their reading habits: nobody knows what you're reading when you're doing that through headphones.

Digital books can't be shared with friends the way print formats can. They have nostalgic memories of cuddling "Goodnight Moon" as they fell asleep at 3 years old. They are often reading to learn, and we remember what we read in print better than what we read on a screen or hear.

Finally, their bookshelves are not overflowing the way mine are.

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If this keeps up, the growth market of the 2020s looks more likely to be making bookcases than VR goggles.