Should we get over print books in the digital age - or are they more precious than ever?

melbourne: (the conversation) ebooks have been popular for decades and audiobooks increasingly so, but physical books remain the favourite. a survey of australian publishers after last christmas showed print books still made up most sales (ebooks 4-18 per cent, audiobooks 5-15 per cent), despite repeated warnings about the “death of the book”.some critics of print have even reversed course. in 2009, journalist jeff jarvis urged people to “get over books”. nearly 15 years later, he recanted.readers value a print book's feel, smell and collectability. like vinyl records, print books are cherished objects, displayed in homes and across social media. they signal taste and class—from celebrity book clubs to the trend of sharing annotated books online. earlier this year, books and publishing reported rising demand for “luxury” special editions. romance author jodi mcalister calls this trend “a romanticisation of the physical object”.print books also carry history, knowledge and shared stories, as seen in a research project on community publishing in regional australia. destruction of books and libraries in ukraine and gaza has heightened awareness of books as symbols of culture itself.preserving community storiesresearchers interviewed 27 self-published authors. most preferred print over digital formats because it created a tangible record. many instinctively turned to print as the best way to preserve memories and share them within their communities.poet sonya bradley-shoyer of burdekin published her illustrated collection come… walk with me in print to ensure her work had “a secure home”. christine adams of broken hill writes books on local history, selling them in community venues to preserve cultural heritage. others, like george venables, emphasise the pride of having a book displayed, signed, and shared.print books are especially meaningful for young writers. bookseller jane vaughan described how children proudly held up their published anthology: “this is mine. mine's on this page.” at running water community press in alice springs, olivia nigro highlighted the importance of physical books for first nations storytelling: “holding and carrying it matters.”destruction of booksbooks' physicality also makes their loss powerful. in berlin's bebelplatz, the empty library monument—glass over a void of empty shelves—commemorates nazi book burnings.because books hold culture and memory, their destruction is devastating. cultural heritage researcher laila hussein moustafa notes that library destruction is common in conflict, citing bosnia (1992) and baghdad (2003). reporting on gaza, journalist shahd alnaami wrote that images of burning libraries felt like “fire burning my own heart”, describing them as an attempt to erase history and identity. some surviving books have even been burned for fuel amid dire conditions.inmay 2024, a russian missile hit ukraine's largest printing house, killing seven, injuring 21 and destroying 50,000 books just before the kyiv arsenal book festival. burnt copies were displayed among the new releases.print books communicate who we are—shared, treasured, lost or displayed. across all contexts, they remain vivid reminders of culture's precarity and endurance. (the conversation)