Print Book Sales Soar in Year’s First Half (publishersweekly.com)

Following a year of extraordinary disruption to the nation’s educational system and the necessary shift to online instruction, parents of students in grades K-12 have reached a clear consensus: When it comes to books, the physical version matters. Parents are acutely focused on what their children learn and are convinced they will learn more via printed materials, according to national study conducted in the United States recently by pollster Frank Luntz. The survey of 1,000 parents with school-aged children across the country found the following: *Virtually every parent wants physical materials as a part of student learning. *76% of parents find physical books “extremely/very” impactful, compared to 68% for online/digital books. *When given the choice of only one or the other, 69% of parents prefer physical materials and only 31% choose online materials. *Physical books matter greatly in school board elections. 71% of parents would be more likely to vote for a school board member who supports students learning with physical materials – over the 29% who would prefer a member who wants online materials. *The frustrations with online learning during COVID are real. More than 80% of parents from all backgrounds (including 74% of those who typically favor online materials) believe physical materials would have made their jobs easier helping their students from home.

Meredith Corp. is launching a company-wide, cross-platform editorial initiative this fall in response to the difficult events this year, called “Reasons for Hope in America.” The project will focus on the “inspiring stories of community, giving thanks, inspiring change and reflecting on what matters most,” according to the publisher. "Reasons for Hope in America" — which will span across print, digital, video, broadcast and social — is inspired by the People franchise “100 Reasons to Love America.”

Skyrocketing demand for boxes and packing materials during the pandemic has slashed paper production across North America, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time for retail companies. “We’re starting to hear, ‘We’re out of paper,‘” said Polly Wong, president of San Francisco-based direct-marketing firm Belardi Wong, noting that some of her clients already missed their fall advertising campaigns due to issues at the printers. Ms. Wong estimates that 100 million catalogs will not be printed or reach U.S. homes in time for the year’s biggest spending season as a result. “It kind of put our industry up in a panic.” With some mills converting to cardboard to meet the spike in e-commerce deliveries and others shutting down altogether, more than 2.5 million metric tons of North American printing and writing paper capacity — or nearly one-fifth of 2019 levels — has come offline since the start of last year. more at source