[Publib] Number of trees used to for paper to print books in the US

Tue May 13 11:08:18 EDT 2008

Not to make this any more complicated than it already is, but note that
many books use "permanent paper" which is low-acid content and  the
manufacturing processes for which are better for the environment. Also,
some publishers and writers - JK Rowling might be one - insist on recycled
paper for the publication fo their books. And yes, there is recycled, acid-
free paper, too.
GraceAnne

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The honorable Walt Crawford noted on 13 May 2008 thusly:

According to the Book Industry Study Group, 3.1 billion books were sold
in the U.S. in 2006. Here's the press release for their report:
http://www.bisg.org/news/press.php?pressid=42

They also show total sales around $35 billion, which comes out to a little
over $11 per item. Assuming that most books sold are mass-market
paperbacks, that's not unreasonable.

These are much higher numbers than AAP's numbers, which
characteristically omit "small" publishers--those with annual sales under
$50 million, PoD, etc. When BISG started studying that broader market,
they found it to be considerably larger than people expected. (There are
tens of thousands of small publishers in the U.S., as compared to fewer
than a hundred large publishers.)

-walt crawford-

On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 7:09 AM, Epling, Jimmie (KDLA) <Jimmie.Epling at ky.gov> wrote:
    I am looking for the total number of individual books published in
    the US. The numbers I have found indicate the number of titles
    published, but not the total number of books. As an example, I
    know 12 million copies of the last Harry Potter book was printed in
    the US last year. When the total run of every title published in the
    last year is added up, I know it must be in the multi-millions. I'm
    trying to get a handle on this number. Can anyone help?

I have learned that it takes on average 20 million trees each year to
print the books sold in the US. I have learned it takes 12,000 trees to
print a million copies of a 250 page book. I have also learned on
average it takes one tree to print 24 books.

These are interesting statistics that might help demonstrate the positive
impact libraries have on the environment. My goal is to develop some
"green" statistics for library use.

Jimmie

Jimmie Epling
Regional Library Consultant
FIVCO/Big Sandy Regional Office
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
P.O. Box 370, 122 South Main Cross St.
Louisa, KY 41230-0370
O: 606.638.4797C: 606.521.0107 F: 606.638.0586
jimmie.epling at ky.gov

GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Reader Writer Reviewer ~ New York City
Part-time lecturer in children's and YA literature Rutgers SCILS/PDS

Favorite titles 2008
http://www.well.com/user/ladyhawk/books.html

"How hard can it be?"
"I am making this up as I go."
--That great sage and sex symbol, Indiana Jones