According to the IEA, readership and book purchases declined during the lockdown

According to a Cepell-AIE survey conducted in collaboration with Pepe Research, book reading was not favored during the weeks of the lockdown to contain the Covid-19 coronavirus contagion.The results of surveys by the Center for Books and Reading and the Italian Publishers Association thus appear to be in contrast to Istat’s findings, which spoke of an increase in readership. Cepell and AIE speak of a 15 percent drop in the number of people who have never read a book in the past 12 months, standing at 58 percent. As for the lockdown months (March and April), the figure drops further: 50% of the population has not read books in these months.

In addition, as far as reading time is concerned, Italians devote less than an hour a day to reading, a figure that has decreased in the last year, while television, telephone, whatsapp, and social networks are activities that on average engage for more than sixty minutes, with values increasing. Nearly half of those who did not read during the months of confinement (47 percent) say the reason was lack of time, 35 percent lack of space at home to focus, 33 percent worries, and 32 percent substituted books for news.

Finally, as mentioned, Cepell and AIE reported a decline in book purchases by readers: they bought books in the previous 12 months (compared to May) 35% of readers, compared to 63% in 2019. The market is at risk of a heavy downturn precisely because of the behavior of strong readers, who preferred not to buy during the lockdown. In fact, buyers who call themselves strong readers dropped from 4.4 million to 3.5 million, a 20 percent decline. As of May 2020, strong readers had purchased 30.2 million copies in the previous 12 months, down 45 percent from the figure at the end of 2019 (51.4 million copies).

“The numbers of the Cepell-AIE survey,” stresses Paola Passarelli, Director General for Libraries and Copyright of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, “confirm the critical issues for reading and the book supply chain, which are essential for the growth, cultural and economic, of the country. The government is aware of this and that is why it has given a significant response by providing direct interventions on demand such as the fund for book purchases by public libraries and the culture card for needy families.”

“The abandonment of reading by Italians is a societal phenomenon that must be addressed at all levels,” explains the president of the Center for Books and Reading, Diego Marani. “This is a trend that was already in place before the pandemic and must be countered with measures that affect the behavior of society as a whole. Targeting young people and schools is no longer enough. Families, businesses, and institutions at every level must be involved, including with a reassessment of the written word in job interviews, exams, and public competitions.”

“The entry into force of the book law, Law 15/2020,” says Cepell Director Angelo Piero Cappello, “cannot bear the desired fruit if made to germinate on old soil and made different by the intervening pandemic. Inescapable novelties, for better or worse, have brought about an abrupt acceleration of social phenomena, habits and cultural consumption that have been in place for many years. This changed reality will have to be reckoned with. And it is in this snapshot of change that lies the meaning of the present research and its future developments and, above all, of the related projects of new promotion and impulse to the practice of reading and book consumption.”

“The picture of reading in our country is alarming,” says the president of the Italian Publishers Association, Ricardo Franco Levi. “Supporting public and private demand for books, combating educational poverty, direct aid to small publishers and booksellers and to the initiatives that have suffered most from social distancing, such as Fairs, Festivals and exhibitions, are necessary measures: we ask the government and Parliament, which with the first measures adopted have shown sensitivity on the issue, to continue in this direction.”

According to the IEA, readership and book purchases declined during the lockdown

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