Romanians and their reading habits
Hi-tech over printed matter: is there a winner?
Radio România Internațional, 07.03.2024, 17:32
“The only thing you need to know is to be able to find your way to the library.” The quotation is attributed to Albert Einstein. It was a real encouragement for people to read. Yet people have stopped reading just as much, ever since high-tech has become so very accessible. Scrolling up on your cell phone screen, continuously, for hours on end, sometimes, steals people the time which is precious for themselves…and that time never returns.
The cell phone empties our lives of what is the most precious thing for us : time, quality time, a time we spend with our nearest and dearest, a time we should use to learn, to develop as human beings endowed with superior intelligence.
There once was a time when the books, banned by then the communist regime, succeeded to sidestep the system and reach the people, who were reading them avidly. At present, when we have all sorts of book at our fingertips and access to the printed books has never been easier, we opt for being glued to the screens of our cell phones instead of reading. Perhaps this is one of the paradoxes the modern man has to face: if something is like a forbidden fruit for someone, they will try their best to go and get it; give them free access to that particular something and people will lose interest in it.
In a world where the habit of reading is on the wane, the Romanians are among those who read rather less. In 2023, the book sales turnover in Romania exceeded 6 million Euro, yet this apparently impressive figure is by far outweighed by Germany, where the book sales turnover in 2023 stood at 9 billion euros. Besides, if you buy a book, that does not necessarily mean you are going to read it…However, that shows you have a smidgen of interest in reading.
In Romania, the people who read, read a lot and constantly, while those who do not read…do not read anything at all. There people who can live quite all right without reading a single line!
Alina Ilioi Mureșan is the PR of Bookzone, the publishers who can brag about being able to arouse the interest of many Romanians with an appetite for reading. She tells us that, nonetheless, the Romanians with an appetite for reading buy a lot of books.
“The Romanian book market is continuously growing, wheel the genres read by the Romanians are ever more diverse. Of course, I am happy when I see Romanians who orders books, who read printed matter and who are thrilled with the prospects of having their own bookcase. I believe last year was a very good one in every respect, in terms of sales but also as regards an editorial plan. Romanians read a lot about personal development and books where they can find out how they can improve their lives in any respect. They are interested in the health of the brain, in healthy diets, in emotional of psychological balance. Also, the geopolitical books are extremely sought-after, considering the context and the times we’re living. The least present, as far as we’re concerned, on their purchase lists were the fantasy books, although, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow has nonetheless enjoyed a tremendous success. However, by and large, the Romanians are not that keen on reading fiction any longer. Not OUR readers, at least. »
However, it appears that the preference towards certain genres differs, from one generation to the next. The Silent Generation (those born between 1928 and 1945) prefers the Classic literature, the Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) chose thrillers, the X Generation (those born between 1960 and 1980) prefers contemporary classics, biographies, but also science fiction (it is, actually, the generation that reads the most, and whose reading is the most diversified) the Y Generation or the Millenials (1981 – 1996) prefers contemporary literature, while the Z Generation (1997 – 2012) prefers the fantasy genre, personal development, entrepreneurship.
As regards the interest for reading, Alina Ilioi Mureșan believes it is growing, considering the book sales:
“The book market this year is continuously growing. Of course, that is, however, hard to predict. The experience that I’ve had tells me many times we’re highly likely to be taken by surprise, according to certain circumstances. ”
If we have a closer look at the figures, it appears that, notwithstanding, the Romanians are not among those who are the last to open a book. So we’re not completely lagging behind when it comes to reading?
Alina Ilioi Muresan gives us a couple of reasons why we should be optimistic:
” I do not believe that. I find it impossible to believe, as every day I run into the number of books ordered by Romanians and I do not think they read the least in Europe. Certainly, the Romanians order the books to read them, and not to put them away so that a layer of dust sets on them. Is it, nonetheless, a financial investment, an effort they make. Yes, the Romanians read, and they read a lot. “
