Does Britain publish too many books?

For dedicated readers who still can’t pass by a bookstore without stopping in and leaving with a lighter wallet, the idea of “too many books” might seem like an odd one. But some in the British publishing industry are wondering whether Britain produces more books than it should.

The Guardian reports that Britain publishes “more books per inhabitant than anywhere else in the world,” with almost 3,000 books for every million residents. By contrast, the U.S. releases fewer than 1,000 books for every million people.

British book experts are divided on what that means for Britain. Canongate Books publisher Jamie Byng thinks the number needs to go down, saying, “It is very easy to acquire a book. Much harder to publish it successfully. Less is so often much, much more.” Novelist Jenn Ashworth disagrees, though: “More books and more people talking about books is always excellent ... [Y]ou’re never going to get me to say that people reading and writing and publishing is a bad thing.”

Britain has long been a nation that values reading; according to the CIA, the country’s literacy rate is 99%. But a recent survey tied British reading habits to divisions in class and age, with younger people more reluctant to pick up a book. As one survey respondent told the Guardian, “The fact is, it’s 2013, not 1813. We have electricity now so we can buy DVDs and watch television rather than read books. Books are for an older generation, younger people on the whole do not read books.”

That might be why some in Britain have mixed feelings about the country’s publishing rate. Jonny Geller, a literary agent, said it was “utter madness” for Britain to produce so many books, “but would you prefer 184,000 new brands of shoes or pointless luxury items? In fact, don’t answer that.”