We’re Not Reading … Or Maybe We Are
Remember the 2007 report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), entitled “To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence,” that told us that adult reading habits were in decline? And the 2004 NEA report, “Reading at Risk,” that had us worried about adult literary trends?
Umm, yeah. Forget those.
Today’s New York Times is reporting on the latest National Endowment for the Arts survey on adult reading habits. And guess what: it’s not as bad as it was:
After years of bemoaning the decline of a literary culture in the United States, the National Endowment for the Arts says in a report that it now believes a quarter-century of precipitous decline in fiction reading has reversed.The report, “Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy,” being released Monday, is based on data from “The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts” conducted by the United States Census Bureau in 2008. Among its chief findings is that for the first time since 1982, when the bureau began collecting such data, the proportion of adults 18 and older who said they had read at least one novel, short story, poem or play in the previous 12 months has risen.
The news comes as the publishing industry struggles with declining sales amid a generally difficult economy.The proportion of adults reading some kind of so-called literary work — just over half — is still not as high as it was in 1982 or 1992, and the proportion of adults reading poetry and drama continued to decline. Nevertheless the proportion of overall literary reading increased among virtually all age groups, ethnic and demographic categories since 2002. It increased most dramatically among 18-to-24-year-olds, who had previously shown the most significant declines …
Why? Outgoing NEA chair Dana Gioia pointed to
community-based programs like the “Big Read,” Oprah Winfrey’s book club, the huge popularity of book series like “Harry Potter” and Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight,” as well as the individual efforts of teachers, librarians, parents and civic leaders to create “a buzz around literature that’s getting people to read more in whatever medium.”
Whether this latest report signals a trend or merely a small fluctuation in statistics collection, it’s nice to see librarians get patted on the back.