The findings: a full 21% of respondents reported having read an e-book within the past year, as of February 2012. To put this into perspective: in December 2011, just 17% of those surveyed had read an e-book in the past year. That's a jump of four percentage points in just two months--which makes sense, since a number of people probably received new ultra-low-priced e-readers and tablets during the holiday gift-giving season.

"Libraries clearly are being impacted by the move to digital," said Mike Crandall, senior lecturer at the Information School at University of Washington. "This is not something new--they've done it with microfilm, audio, CDs, video, and many other forms of materials besides the printed book."

"E-books have some interesting characteristics that make them more challenging, in the sense that they are a direct replacement for the traditional printed book, but the same could be said for the journals and newspapers that many libraries started providing through their public access terminals years ago," he added.

The study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has been on the forefront of research into the overlaps of technology and education.

Excerpted from the VatorNews article, April 4, 2012: Read the complete article.