Why are printed books still being sold in the 21st century?
We live in a time of increasing digitalisation. We don’t have to print our boarding passes before a flight anymore, we receive emails instead of letters, and legal documents can be signed electronically. E-books were even predicted to replace paper books by 20151; however, this hasn’t happened, or at least not yet. In 2023, paper books outsold digital books at a rate of 4:1. Although e-books grew globally by around 3.5% on average each year between 2017 and 2022, they are still no match for printed books, which increased in sales by around 13% between 2020 and 20212.
For further insights about this topic, I interviewed Federico Lafaire, owner of the second-hand English-language bookstore, The Book Exchange, who’s been in the book industry for 15 years. He said that, recently, printed books have seen a rise in popularity among young people. In his words, “if you came here 10 years ago, you would mainly see people above 40. After 2020, there has been an explosion of young people, mainly women between 20 and 25.”
According to experts, e-readers are considered more sustainable than printed books, but only if you read at least 25 e-books in five years on the same e-reader
Both printed books and e-books have their pros and cons. E-books are generally cheaper and more portable, while physical books will provide you a well-deserved digital detox after spending half of your day staring at a screen. Then, there’s the question of which one is more ecologically friendly. Printed books are partially responsible for deforestation, while the making of paper consumes a lot of energy and causes carbon emissions. However, producing an e-reader also requires lots of energy and raw materials, which can be harmful for the environment. Thus, according to sustainability experts, e-readers are considered more sustainable than printed books, but only if you use it enough and read at least 25 e-books in five years on the same e-reader3.
In addition, I list here possible reasons that I believe contribute to the increasing popularity of printed books.
Reading printed books improves learning and memorising
Have you ever read a text on a laptop or a tablet when a message suddenly popped up and you found yourself, instead, chatting with a friend or replying to that “important” email? Indeed, reading in an online environment can be very distracting. On an e-reader, there’s usually no access to the disturbances of social media, however it can still contain hyperlinks or other features not present in a traditional book, which can turn our attention elsewhere.
A study has shown that learning with physical materials, such as printed books, improves students’ focus on their learning. Although there were no differences in the reading time, the efficiency and awareness of their performance was higher when they engaged with a physical text. This holds true for non-fiction and informative texts such as school books, as narrative texts didn’t show a difference in text-understandability between paper books and e-books4.
Federico, in addition, shared that with a physical book, “you are getting extra information.” Some people have a good memory about where certain information in a text is, however, e-books have less capabilities when it comes to space distinctions. “The only way you can build a good memory is through exposure and repetition. A physical book offers you this in a way that an e-reader doesn’t, because an e-reader is the same machine.”
Paper books look better
They say one should not judge a book by its cover, but can all of us really resist this simple marketing trick? Sometimes, you just buy that pretty book because it will look good on your bookshelf. According to Federico, special editions, such as hard covers or sprayed edges, highly influence purchasing. “Looks on books are extremely important. As a bookstore, you need to have nice-looking books just to give customers a good feeling. Even though they might end up buying the five-year-old paperback, you want to give them basic customer satisfaction.”
When it comes to social media, looks matter a lot. #Booktok, a large community on TikTok where users share or watch videos about books, has accumulated 370 billion views with over 52 million creative videos5. These videos, since their main concern is looks, by a vast majority include printed books. This significantly helps promote the printing industry.
Another part of the “looking good” is gifting. A book is arguably one of the best presents you could give to a person who likes reading. With a physical book, you can wrap up your present in nice wrapping paper, put a ribbon around it, and give a “real” present to someone. When you compare this to the alternative – “hey, I bought you an e-book, check out your emails!” – it just doesn’t look the same.
The digital format can lose part of a book’s meaning
When it comes to looks, printed books offer a richness that digital formats can’t replicate. Both printed and digital books include features such as images, colour, and varied typefaces. But many graphic techniques, including different binding methods, types of paper, inks, stamping (which adds a metallic sheen), thermography (which creates raised lettering), and many more, are only present in physical copies. These elements can make a book more than just a book; they make it an art object.
However, it isn’t only about the aesthetics. Graphic techniques often carry meaning that contributes to the story itself. Consider the novel S. by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst. Designed to resemble an old, well-travelled library book, it features yellowed pages and notes written by fictional characters using different handwritings. The creators intend readers to experience the book as the characters do: a mysterious volume passed from hand to hand. This experience cannot be reproduced in the online edition. The print version even contains physical inserts, such as a map drawn on a napkin. If you have the printed copy, you can feel the texture in your hands as you look at the map. The fact that the message was drawn on that particular material is largely lost in an e-book version.
A physical book slows you down
We live in a time when everything happens fast. We travel to other cities and back within the same day, we respond to thousands of messages, and we constantly complain that we “don’t have time.” Holding a paper book can bring you back to the past, it can give you that relaxing feeling that “there’s no rush.” The feel of the material, the distinctive smell of it, together with the motion of turning the pages, all this has the power to make the world feel a bit slower.
“When you go to a store like this,” added Federico, “you have to look around. I think, this process can slow you down the same way a physical book slows you down.” In comparison, while reading articles or other texts on the internet, people tend to “get it over with quickly.” There’s not the same feeling of patience as with the printed material.
Printed books can affirm your identity
As Federico said, “a physical book has a lot do to with your identity. When people go to your house and see your books, they think ‘they’re a reader.’ That’s an affirmation of who you are. I think an e-book can’t offer you that on the same level.” Moreover, in an online age when many people feel isolated, finding a sense of community matters more than ever. Reading physical books can connect you to the wide community of readers in a way an a-reader often can’t.
In the end, there’s not a simple answer to which one of the two options for reading is better, instead it comes down to our personal preference. “It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just different,” Federico told me. However, as he confirmed, “there’s a very warm, cosy heart feeling to a book.”
Sources
1) Ahmad, N. (2022, Sep. 11). Print Books vs Ebooks: A Long Battle for Existence. Librarian Studies & Information Technology.
2) E-Books vs. Print Books Popularity: Current Scenario. (2023, Dec. 16). LibCognizance.
3) Sustainable Reading: Do You Choose Paper or Digital? (2025). WaardLanden.
4) Clinton, V. (2019, Jan. 13). Reading from Paper Compared to Screens: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Wiley Online Library.
5) The Power of BookTok: Why TikTok’s Book Community Is Driving a New Era in Publishing. (2025, Apr. 21). Forbes.