A new direction for an old directory: The future of phone books

The future of phone books The latest edition of the phone book is arriving on doorsteps in Halifax. Some people are wondering if they serve a purpose anymore.

To many, it’s a relic from a bygone era, but a new edition of the phone book is being distributed in Halifax these days.

Some people still use it; others likely toss it into the recycling bin, and with many people using wireless phones only, some wonder why we even have phone books at all.

Halifax-area resident Barrie Morash was pleasantly surprised to find a shiny new phone book in his driveway a week ago.

He and his wife faithfully consult the directory when they need a number or address, but he’s well aware many others don’t.

“From what I see,” he says, “along the roads, there’s a lot of people don’t pick them up, they’re just sitting there.”

All over the municipality, the 2018 edition of the phone book is being left at homes and businesses in certain areas.

Bell Aliant sold the directory side of the business to the Yellow Pages Group about a decade ago.

There aren’t as many phone books being printed as there once were, but experts say there’s a reason they’re still out there.

“They’re selling advertising,” says Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre, “so the more of these they can hand out, the better the pitch to advertisers.”

The reality is, many of the books wind up heading directly to the recycling plant, at the expense of the municipality.

In exchange, the publisher provides a couple of pages of free content, usually offering more recycling tips.

“Recycling is good, but there’s an energy cost to recycling too,” adds Butler. “There’s a financial cost to recycling, so really, yeah, it’s a waste all around.”

Not much of a deal according to a local councillor who says the books should be available for pick-up only.

“They should be able to pick it up at Sobeys or the Superstore of the NSLC,” says municipal councillor Matt Whitman. “You know, opt in to getting a phone book rather than having one tossed in your driveway.”

The Yellow Pages in Montreal tells CTV News the Atlantic region is still very much a high print usage market, and points out proof of that can be found when you consider there are more than 2,200 advertisers who buy space to be included.

Officials insist those rates are stable year over year, meaning a lot of businesses still assume people are using the phone book, even if they say they don’t use it themselves anymore.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko.