The first is legibility, the association said in a statement. Despite the vast improvements of screen resolution and a multitude of electronic formats, it is still a fact that for sustained reading, paper is kinder to the eyes. That is why most of us still prefer to print our electronic documents rather than read them on screen.

The second is linearity. The orderly presentation defined by the author is important to follow how the author moves on from one point to the next. This applies for both fiction, where the story needs to be read from the first page to the last (unless the author decides otherwise) and also non-fiction where the assembling of evidence to form a logical argument is still considered as the best approach (that is why we have an increasing number of subject directories on the Internet).

Portability is the third reason, the association added. To date, a paperback is simpler to carry around than a laptop or even an e-book reader. And the common refrain that “if you drop a book in a bathtub, it won’t kill you” still holds.

The fourth reason is that print is a surface technology. The printed page needs just working eyes and hands – a remarkably accessible technology across hundreds of years. All other mediums require some form of sophisticated technology.

Copyright is the fifth reason. Although most material on the Internet is copyrighted, there is still a lot of abuse and authors are losing substantial amounts of money through copyright infringement.

The sixth and final reason is lovability. Most children, and adults, who read will latch on to a book with an attachment that demands that it be read night after night. For generations, the book as an artifact has shown that it has a deep power.

In conclusion, we must realise that the book and the Internet are mutually compatible and not diametrically opposed. It is no coincidence that the book industry is still flourishing since the arrival of the Internet, the association concluded.