Two economic figures bumped into each other this month -- book sales and bookstore sales. One held steady, the other fell, a sign of the times, it seems.

There were $10 billion worth of books sold last year, a negligible slip of 0.02 percent over 2005.

One of the encouraging signs was the adult hardcover (not that kind of "adult") segment, which showed a 4.1 percent increase. Adult paperbacks posted an 8.5 percent rise for the year.

On the down side, books for young and high school readers seemed to be losing ground. Sales for the year slid a whopping 29 percent. Maybe the kids are saving their money for the final "Harry Potter" installment in June. Retail price is $35.

Oddly, the month with the biggest sales decline for all books was December.

However, the places where people used to get their reading material -- bookstores -- lost customers in 2006. Sales slipped nearly 3 percent for the year.

Dovetailing with the slump in book sales for the holiday was the 8.8 percent bookstore fall-off in December. This finding includes the chains and independents.

Providing the figures were the Association of American Publishers and the United States Census.

The obvious conclusion is that book buyers continue to move away from the corner store in favor of their computer, ordering online instead of in person.

It's "the way we live now," to bring Anthony Trollope into the mix, and there's no reason for it to change. Booksellers, meanwhile, are hustling to bring in customers through programs, author visits and other events.

Borders, though, has announced it's trying the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" tact by joining with Gather.com, which Publishers Weekly called a "social networking site" for "the older set."

It works like this:

The old timers in Gather can chat online about books, music and films recommended by Borders' various newsletters, with the view toward encouraging conversations about entertainment.

"Any time people discuss movies, music and books, it's ultimately a positive reflection on our brand," said a Borders spokesman.

Check for details at www.borders.gather.com.

Longer hours

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has extended hours at nine branches: Brookline, Carrick, East Liberty, Hazelwood, Homewood, Knoxville, Lawrenceville, Mount Washington and Woods Run.

Hours are unchanged for the Main Library in Oakland, the Downtown business branch, the library for the blind and physically handicapped and branches in Beechview, Squirrel Hill, Sheraden, South Side, West End and the Hill.

The Allegheny Country Regional Assets Board helped finance the increase.

More Pittsburgh authors

Samuel P. Hayes is a historian who's been tracking the environmental state of the city and the nation for years.

Now professor emeritus at Pitt, Hayes has written "Wars in the Woods: The Rise of Ecological Forestry in America" (University of Pittsburgh Press, $27.95).

"American Working Class Literature" is an academic anthology of fiction by and about workers (Oxford University Press, $50).

The co-editors are Nicholas Coles, director of the composition program at Pitt, and Janet Zandy, professor of language and literature at the Rochester Institute of Technology.