This session will report on a 6,000 volume study conducted in 2021 in which circulation history showed user preferences for paper and cloth bindings in an academic library. These 6,000 volumes came from books published in 2000, 2005, 2010, and, 2015, from all three major disciplines (humanities, sciences, social sciences). Come learn whether patrons really do prefer hardbacks to softbacks when doing research and join a discussion on the implications of the data.