Men Buy Books and Women Borrow Them

Men are from book buying Mars.

Women are from not book buying Venus.

Jonathan?

So, this is so fun.

New data shows that libraries cater far better to female reading preferences.

According to the Authors Guild June 2026 Reader Acquisition Study conducted by the Codex Group, men purchase new books at significantly higher rates than women.

while women turned to libraries far more often.

The study surveyed regular readers and tracked exactly where people obtained the books they read or listened to in the previous month.

And there was a gender split in acquisition behavior.

Men bought new print or e-book copies 42% of the time.

Women bought new copies only 33% of the time.

Women sourced 30% of their text reads from public libraries compared with lower purchase rates and the gap widened with audio books.

Women pulled 44% of listens from libraries versus 32% from paid channels.

So this is suggesting Now, there's another dynamic to the data here, which is really interesting.

And I have a theory.

After having looked at all the data, I have a theory.

Libraries seem to serve affluent, educated readers, not poor or rural ones.

Active library members made up 59% of recent readers in the study.

These users were more likely to have household incomes above $75,000, hold graduate degrees, work full-time, and live in suburban areas.

Peak usage hit readers aged 25 to 44.

This data undercuts the common assumption, or not really the assumption, it's the talking point.

that libraries primarily serve low-income or rural populations who cannot afford books.

Instead, the heaviest library users tend to be affluent, educated, and suburban.

These same readers bought 42% fewer new books than non-library members while reading 16% more books overall.

Here's my theory.