Survey: E-books gain ground in U.S.

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- More U.S. residents used electronic readers in the past year while fewer did their reading the old-fashioned way with printed books, a survey finds.

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project polled people 16 and older on their reading habits. A report released Thursday said that 23 percent reported reading at least one electronic book in the previous 12 months compared to 16 percent in a 2011 survey.

Printed books are still more popular, with 67 percent of respondents saying they had read at least one compared to 72 percent in 2011. The percentage who said they had read any kind of book dipped slightly from 78 percent to 75 percent.

The percentage who had borrowed an e-book from a library increased from 3 percent to 5 percent and 31 percent said they were aware libraries offer e-books, up from 25 percent.

About one-third, 33 percent, of respondents in 2012 said they own a tablet computer or electronic reader, up from 18 percent a year earlier. Ownership of tablets more than doubled from 10 percent to 25 percent, while ownership of electronic readers increased from 10 percent to 19 percent.

Pew polled 2,252 people between Oct. 15 and Nov. 10. The margin of error is 2.3 percentage points.