Survey of Reading
Practices 2009
Summary for Halifax
Public Library
(Halifax, NS)
Sample size: 62

1

November 2009
This survey is part of a research study on reading practices conducted by Dr. Patricia Demers (patricia.demers@ualberta.ca) of the Department of English and Film Studies at the University
of Alberta.
Unless otherwise indicated, the results for questions that allowed participants to circle more than
one answer are calculated out of the total number of responses to that question rather than the
number of respondents who completed the survey.

What types of writing do you like to read?
Total number of responses: 312
Total number of respondents: 62

Novels: 56
Magazines: 51
Non-fiction: 48
Newspapers: 41
Short stories: 31
Online news: 28
Social networking: 12
Other: 9
Poetry: 8
Blogs: 8
Forums: 6
Graphic novels: 6
Comics: 6
Plays: 2

2

Newspapers 13%

Short stories 10%
Magazines 16%
Online news 9%
Social networking 4%

Novels 17%

Poetry 3%
Plays 1%
Comics 2%

Other 3%
Blogs 2%
Forums 2%
Graphic novels 2%

On hand-held
devices 3%
How do you like to read?

Audio books 4%

Total number of responses: 89
Total number of respondents: 62

On computer 24%
On paper 69 %

3

Do you care if your reading material is
Canadian?
Total number of responses: 65
Total number of respondents: 62

Yes
No

15 responded YES
50 responded NO

17

23 %
77 %

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4

If not, why not?
Note: We grouped the responses to this question into 5 catego-

No reason
9%
Canadian writing
uninteresting
3%

ries and calculated the percentages based on total number of
respondents who answered the question.

Care to
an extent
26 %

Total number of respondents: 46

Representative sample of comments:
I read because I enjoy the material. The source
is irrelevant.
 
I’m happy to read Canadian authors but they
don’t have to be Canadian. For gardening
books, I prefer Canadian.

5

Want variety
& diversity of
perspectives
36%

Select based on
content quality
26%

If you do care, what types of Canadian writing
appeal to you?
Total number of responses: 123
Total number of respondents: 27

Short stories 13%

Novels: 20
Magazines: 20
Non-fiction: 19
Short stories: 15
Newspapers: 13
Online news: 9
Poetry: 5
Comics: 3
Graphic novels: 2
Forums: 2
Plays: 2
Social networking: 1
Other: 2

Newspapers 12%

Magazines 17%

Online news 8%
Poetry 4%

Novels 17%

Comics 3%

Social networking 1%

Graphic novels 2%
Forums 2%
Plays 2%

Other 2%

Note: 12 respondents who said they do not care if their reading
material is Canadian answered this question nevertheless

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6

Yes

10 %

Total number of respondents: 62

7

Do you care if the writers you read are male or
female?

No

90 %

If you do or do not care, provide a reason:
Note: We grouped the responses to this question into
4 categories

Total number of respondents: 37

Of the 5 respondents who said

Of the 32 respondents who said

YES

23 indicated that they do not see a difference between male and female writers, or that content is
more important than gender of the writer
6 indicated that they care to an extent
3 indicated that they want a variety of perspectives
 
Representative sample of comments:
 
“To read authors of only one sex is denying oneself
half of literature, social comment, etc.”
 
“I like to read well-written work. If it is by female
writers that is great but I don’t first choose female
authors.”
 
“If the story is good I don’t care.”

5 indicated that they prefer either the male or
female perspective
 
Representative sample of comments:
 
Prefer female authors as can relate to characters better (fiction) but am ok with male
authors of non-fiction.
 
I usually but not always like male fiction writers.
 
Again, if the book is well-written, the gender
of the author is unimportant … however, I do
seem to read more books written by women.

8

NO

Please provide examples of Canadian women
writers you read:
Total number of responses: 34

The most frequently listed women writers were:
Margaret Atwood: 18
Alice Munro: 12
Margaret Laurence: 8
Ami McKay: 6         
Carol Shields: 5          
Lesley Crewe: 4
Donna Morrissey: 4
Elizabeth Hay: 4

(Letter size denotes frequency)

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9

In what languages do you read?
Total number of responses: 77

French 10%

Total number of respondents: 61

English 80%

German 4%

English: 61
French: 8
Spanish: 1
Others: Russian, Arabic, German, Chinese

10

Spanish 1%
Other 5%

If you do read in multiple languages, do you
do so occasionally or regularly?

Occasionally
Regularly

11

31 %

Yes

86 %

No

14 %

Yes

10 %

No

Total number of respondents: 13

69 %

90 %

Do you enjoy reading material by international
writers?
Total number of respondents: 56

12

Do you play electronic games that tell a story
(massively multi-player online games, solo
quest/adventure games, etc)?
Total number of respondents: 60

13

Indicate gender/year of birth:

Gender
Male
30%

Gender
Total number of respondents: 60

Female
70%

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Year of birth

Age

Total number of respondents: 58

66+
7%

41-65

43%

18-25
10%

26-40
40%

14

Additional comments (selected sample):
Reading is a great escape. A wonderful way to
learn and experience new perspectives. I also
love to read to prepare and educate myself
about topics that interest me such as travel,
health, relationships.
 
In one sense, I don’t care if a writer is male,
female, Canadian or international as long as I
get quality writing that I enjoy reading. I enjoy
a diverse selection of authors. If it turns out the
writer is Canadian, so much the better. Recently discovered Harold Johnson - I really enjoy
his books. I really enjoyed all of Carol Shields’s
books.
 
I like to read fiction especially from all over the
world so I can learn about people and places
outside Canada. I’m slowly learning more about
contemporary Canadian writers, but gender and
nationality are no concern when I select
reading.

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