The digital revolution in the book market and the new reading practices in the United States, France and Brazil

Abstract

Technological changes, especially the internet, have modified the forms of production, access and consumption of books. Whether for authors, who can self-publish, for publishers, who have started to offer audiobooks and ebooks, or for readers, who read on screen and from clicks, the book market is experiencing a digital revolution. In this context, a documentary and bibliographic research is carried out based on statistical data on three countries (Brazil, United States and France) with the objective of analyzing the size of the reading population in each country, the interest of young people in reading, ebook reading rates and library use/interest. It appears that, although the total number of readers in each country has remained stable in the last decade and the younger ones constitute the group most interested in digital books and audiobooks, the practice of reading printed books has reduced among adolescents and adults in a way that constant in recent years. In addition, the demand for libraries has decreased, especially with regard to the use of their bibliographic collection, raising doubts about their future in an increasingly digital world.