During the week of January 23-29 this year, a total of 3,405,687 books were "sold or circulated" in Canada (compared to last year's total of 2,714, 946), according to results of the second annual National Book Count. Book sales and library loans were tracked by a partnership of booksellers and library systems and the data compiled by the National Reading Campaign, the National Post reported.
This year, e-books were included for the first time and consisted of 10% of all books sold in English-speaking Canada and 3% of all loans were via digital formats. Other highlights:
- 1,153,081 print books were sold by retailers including Indigo Books & Music, Amazon.ca and other national chains, as well as more than 260 independent bookstores across the country. English-language print book sales for the week increased 4% over 2011.
- 111,053 English-language e-book sales were counted.
- 2,141,553 print books were borrowed from 28 participating public library systems 63,196 e-books were downloaded. Canadian libraries saw an 8% increase in print circulation and a 50% increase in digital circulation for an overall increase of 9% total circulation for libraries that participated in 2011 and 2012.