Among the most alarming findings for reduced spiritual contacts
in contemporary societies, including that in Bulgaria, are those
for reduced readership of books. Regularly conducted sociological
and statistical surveys during the last decade have revealed a
relatively sustainable situation of declining or withholding the
amount of readers. National statistical institutes, Eurostat,
specialized sociological agencies and specialized foundations are
constantly conducting surveys, resulting in more or less grim
pictures of the level of reading in many European countries.
However, it should not be overlooked that the statistical
picture of reading is not always presentеd in the light of the
digital age. The metamorphoses through which the book is passing
and the transformations in reading habits that have taken place in
the digital era require a special research approach attempting to
outline both some of the consequences and the causes for the
fundamental changes that accompany these processes.
This article presents aggregated data from an "expert
evaluation" survey of 14 experts participating in the COST Action
IS 1404 E-READ (2014-2018) on the attitudes towards modern forms of
reading and the future of the book, which has been conducted within
the framework of the research project DCOST 01/13 - 04.08.2017 of
the National Scientific Fund of Bulgaria.
Some of the expert conclusions state that the book in its
traditional form will change to a great extent, and that there will
be many convergent processes between the traditional and e-formats,
as well as among the other media, but as a paper product the book
will not disappear, it will become the dominating possession of the
intellectual elite.
Key words: reading; book; e-reading; future
of the book; reading attitudes.