Bethany Ortquist
works weekends at West Side Stories Used Books,
which is celebrating its sixth year in business in an industry that has been
challenged by the introduction of e-readers as alternatives to hard-copy books.
Since its opening in 2011, the owners Joe and Jeanenne Petri had to fight an
argument that e-books and e-readers will become the dominant means of reading,
but by 2017 it hasn’t been the case. E-readers such as the Amazon Kindle and
Barnes and Noble’s Nook have taken a dive in desirable markets such as young
adults and college students.
According to a study
in Telematics and Informatics, four-fifths
of students surveyed preferred print books for both academic and pleasure
reading. Another study, showed that
millennials acknowledge that they read better with a print book instead of on a
digital tablet.
The Petris found that
their confidence in books came from taking a look at another industry that’s
undergoing a resurgence. “E-readers
will eventually become a bigger part of the market,” Joe Petri said. “I opened
the shop six years ago and the reason I was confident in the book industry was
by taking a look at the music and vinyl industry. Music and vinyl came back
because there are some people that
will choose fidelity over convenience.”
By Edwin Viera
