Odd - I've always thought that 'wonk' was an import from the UK. But to return to the original rant, I also wonder about the origin and validity of the statistics quoted. Numbers in this context are really meaningless without also including data on trends. I spend a lot of time in public libraries and bookstores, and they are always crowded and there is always a line at the cashier. A very quick Google search brings up articles that indicate both that library usage is increasing and that it is decreasing. I read recently that more than half of the books sold in the past year by Amazon were e-books, and certainly many of those I've bought recently have been virtual.