SEATTLE, Jan. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ThriftBooks today announced the launch of the 500 Billion Page Challenge—a collective reading movement designed to inspire reading habits and make reading feel achievable again, one page at a time, together.
According to a new nationwide survey conducted by Atomik Research and commissioned by ThriftBooks, 61% of U.S. adults believe they could maintain a habit of reading just a few pages a day for up to six months. Yet 57% say the hardest part of reading is simply getting started—and 17% can’t remember the last time they read a book at all.
“Americans didn’t stop loving books—we just got a bit distracted,” said Barbara Hagen, VP of Marketing at ThriftBooks. “The 500 Billion Page Challenge is about helping people reignite their passion for reading in a way that fits real life. This isn’t about guilt or giving up screens forever. It’s about rediscovering what reading gives us that nothing else does.”
The challenge arrives at a moment when many Americans are rethinking their relationship with digital screens and looking for ways to reclaim focus, creativity, and mental well-being through more analog activities.
“People think their attention is broken, but it’s really just overbooked,” says Jon Levy, Behavioral Scientist. “Digital life is a constant stream of prompts, and reading asks for something rarer: Intentionally giving yourself a small break. The good news is you can give yourself that gift while you’re having a coffee, commuting to work, or even riding a stationary bike.”
Why 500 Billion Pages?
A decade ago, Americans collectively read nearly 500 billion pages per year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Pew Research Center, and Gallup. Since then, that number has dropped dramatically, leaving billions of pages—and the creativity, curiosity, calm, and sense of escape that come with them—behind.
The 500 Billion Page Challenge reframes that decline not as a failure, but as a shared opportunity. There are no deadlines and no pressure, just an invitation to read a little more.
Nearly 9 in 10 U.S. adults (87%) say a realistic goal is to read at least three pages per day, according to the Atomik Research survey. If every adult in this country read just a few pages daily, we would be well on our way to stemming the tide.
Americans are invited to join the movement, set their own reading goals, and help bring the nation back to 500 billion pages—together.
To learn more or join the challenge, visit ThriftBooks.com/challenge. For additional assets, please check out our digital media toolkit.
About ThriftBooks
Thrift Books Global LLC is the world’s largest independent online seller of used books, having sold more than 300 million used books since its inception. Founded in Seattle in 2003, ThriftBooks operates multiple processing centers throughout the US that purchase, grade, and distribute used and rare/collectible books. ThriftBooks sells across a variety of online platforms, including ThriftBooks.com, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, TikTok Shop, Etsy, and others. ThriftBooks.com provides a best-in-class e-commerce shopping experience, as evidenced by its 2025 Best of the Best recognition, its Best Customer Service award six years in a row, and its 5-star Trustpilot score with more than 2.5 million customer reviews. Customers who shop at ThriftBooks.com enjoy everyday low prices and can earn free books through the company’s much loved loyalty program, ReadingRewards.
About the Survey
The survey was conducted online by Atomik Research among 2,006 U.S. adults between December 12–15, 2025. Results are nationally representative with a margin of error of ±2 percentage points.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a05bd4fe-b3ad-4abf-a731-985d3371a628
