Admin. professionals are generally well read, and our bookshelves have a healthy supply of business-related materials. Here are the results of my latest weekend poll, in which I asked:
When you’re away from the office, what do you like to read?
Respondents expose themselves to a variety of materials. 79% read industry, sector or educational books, and a full 89% read other non-fiction. There’s also room on our shelves for fiction, though; 89% also reported reading fiction on their own time.
While e-readers have their admirers, a full 89% prefer hard copy books over electronic versions. It seems we also prefer owning our own books; 80% prefer to purchase, rather than borrow, the books they read. Where do we buy our books? Well, while storefront locations needn’t close any time soon, a full 62% of respondents purchase their books online.
Looking for Career-Related Books You May Want to Consider?
When interviewing people for my Real Careers series, I invite them to identify books they’ve found inspiring. You can follow the drop down menus from the Resources option at the top of this screen, or you can click here to go directly to the page where I publish a cumulative list of books your peers have recommended.
The Breakdown: Detailed Results of this Weekend’s Poll
Read on to see how your reading habits at home (or on your commute!) compare with your peers’. Answers reflect percentages of total responses.
Almost 80% of respondents read industry/sector/educationally-focused books away from the office
- 79% read industry, sector and/or educationally-focused books
- 21% do not read such books
Almost 90% of respondents read other non-fiction on their own time
- 89.5% read other non-fiction books
- 10.5% do not read other non-fiction
Another 89% of respondents read fiction on their own time
- 89% read fiction
- 11% do not read fiction
What types of books are your peers most likely to read on their own time?
- 50%: industry/sector/professionally-related materials
- 33%: fiction
- 17%: other non-fiction
How many books do respondents read in a given month? It varies.
- 0 books monthly: 16% of respondents
- one to three books monthly: 68% of respondents
- four to six books monthly: 16% of respondents
For the most part, we still prefer hard copy books
- 89% prefer to read hard copy books
- 5.5% prefer e-readers
- 5.5% selected “other”; one respondent wrote, “both”
80% prefer to purchase our own books, rather than borrowing them
- 80% purchase their books
- 15% borrow from libraries
- 5% borrow from family and friends
… and more than half the respondents are happy to purchase their books online
- 62% purchase their books online
- 38% purchase their books from bricks and mortar locations
