New national surveys of younger Americans suggest that far from abandoning books, Gen Z is leaning back into print and rediscovering local libraries as key places to find and enjoy reading. The findings, published by Portland State University researchers Kathi Inman Berens and Rachel Noorda and supported by an American Library Association study, complicate cultural narratives that portray younger generations as disengaged from long-form reading.
Berens and Noorda’s new study, How Gen Z Discover and Consume Books, released by Cambridge University Press in July 2026, draws on nationally representative U.S. surveys fielded in 2022 and 2025 to map how people born roughly between 1997 and 2012 find, buy, borrow, and talk about books. The researchers describe a paradoxical landscape in which Gen Z relies heavily on digital ecosystems such as social media, streaming adaptations, and online recommendation channels to discover titles, yet continues to favor physical formats once they sit down to read. Their work also tracks tensions between how young adults talk about their identity as “readers” and their actual habits, as well as shifting attitudes toward issues like piracy and the role of artificial intelligence in creative work.
One of the clearest patterns in the data is Gen Z’s strong preference for print books over e-books and audiobooks, even as they remain deeply immersed in other digital media. In a report commissioned by the American Library Association and coauthored by Berens and Noorda, Gen Z and millennials reported buying and reading on average two print books per month—nearly twice the average number of e-books or audiobooks—despite also consuming stories in formats such as web fiction and game-related text. That report found that younger readers read and buy roughly twice as many print books per month as older generations, with print emerging as Gen Z’s top book format and younger members of the cohort tending to purchase even more print titles than their slightly older peers.
Print’s resilience appears closely linked to how young readers are using libraries and bookstores. According to the ALA-sponsored survey, respondents aged 13 to 40, including Gen Z, not only prefer print but also frequent public libraries to browse shelves, attend programs, and socialize, even when they identify strongly as digital natives. The same research notes that recommendations from friends remain the single most popular way to discover new books, with streaming film and television adaptations and social media posts by authors and influencers also playing a major role in pointing Gen Z toward their next reads. A summary of the library data published for a general audience highlights that browsing library shelves ranks among Gen Z’s preferred discovery methods, and that more than a third of Gen Z respondents say they find books through librarian recommendations.
Berens and Noorda have also addressed the wider public debate about whether younger generations are losing the capacity or desire to read sustained texts. Writing in a commentary piece aimed at a broad readership, they argue that panic over Gen Z’s reading habits often overlooks how this cohort mixes traditional print reading with digital-first practices, such as participating in fan communities, reading serialized web fiction, and engaging with books through social platforms. Their analysis contends that while the forms and contexts of reading have diversified, the underlying engagement with narrative, character, and information remains robust, particularly when libraries and bookstores provide inviting spaces and diverse collections.
For churches, Christian schools, and faith-based publishers, the research presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Many ministries have shifted discipleship materials, small-group resources, and even Bibles toward apps and digital platforms in anticipation of a screen-only generation, yet these findings suggest that younger adults are still very willing to pick up printed books when they are curated well and tied into their social networks. Congregations that maintain church libraries, run reading groups, or partner with local public libraries may find a receptive audience among Gen Z, especially when those efforts acknowledge the hybrid reality of a generation that discovers books online but often prefers to hold them in their hands.
Researchers involved in the ALA project describe libraries as “popular among Gen Z and Millennials, even among self-identified non-readers,” emphasizing that younger users move fluidly between physical spaces and digital discovery channels. As Berens and Noorda continue to share their findings through interviews, podcasts, and public writing, they are encouraging educators, librarians, and cultural leaders—including those in Christian institutions—to rethink assumptions about an “age of reading” that is supposedly over and instead pay attention to the specific, and often hopeful, ways Gen Z is still reading today.
Image Credits:
• A teenage girl reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire via Wikimedia Commons by Auli Raha with usage type - Creative Commons License
Featured Image Credit:
• A teenage girl reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire via Wikimedia Commons by Auli Raha with usage type - Creative Commons License