Fewer Noses Stuck in Books in America, Survey Finds

[PfcHammer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/books/08READ.html

Fewer Noses Stuck in Books in America, Survey Finds
By BRUCE WEBER
Published: July 8, 2004

Oprah's Book Club may help sell millions of books to Americans, and slam poetry may have engendered a youthful new breed of wordsmith, but the nation is still caught in a tide of indifference when it comes to literature. That is the sobering profile of a new survey to be released today by the National Endowment for the Arts, which describes a precipitous downward trend in book consumption by Americans and a particular decline in the reading of fiction, poetry and drama.

The survey, called "Reading at Risk," is based on data from "The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts," conducted by the Census Bureau in 2002. Among its findings are that fewer than half of Americans over 18 now read novels, short stories, plays or poetry; that the consumer pool for books of all kinds has diminished; and that the pace at which the nation is losing readers, especially young readers, is quickening. In addition it finds that the downward trend holds in virtually all demographic areas.

"What this study does is give us accurate numbers that support our worst fears about American reading," said Dana Gioia, the chairman of the endowment, who will preside over a discussion of the survey results at the New York Public Library this morning. "It quantifies what people have been observing anecdotally, but the news is that it has been happening more rapidly and more pervasively than anyone thought possible. Reading is in decline among all groups, in every region, at every educational level and within every ethnic group," he said, calling the survey results "deeply alarming."

The study, with its stark depiction of how Americans now entertain, inform and educate themselves, does seem likely to fuel debate over issues like the teaching and encouragement of reading in schools, the financing of literacy programs and the prevalence in American life of television and the other electronic media that have been increasingly stealing time from readers for a couple of generations at least. It also raises questions about the role of literature in the contemporary world.

[jdj]

1. I can just see everyone in the White House high-fiving each other

and singing "We were morans, when morans weren't cool."

[Occulus]

2. Kids are becoming more mature faster

and this causes their reading to become apathetic at best if they have nothing engaging to read. The "Harry Potter" series in a rare and wonderful exception; perhaps we should be introducing our kids to hard fiction, science fiction, and fantasy at an earlier age.

[shanti]

3. their noses are stuck in the internet

instead!

[ugarte]

5. Video games

eom

[shanti]

14. that too....

definitely!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

67. At the same time...

my 6 year old's interest in reading was spawned in part from a desire to read video game manuals at around age 4. As a result of this, he reads well above his grade level.

Because we put limits on the amount of time he can spend playing video games and watching TV, his interest in reading other things has not diminished.

All things in moderation...

[Scairp]

4. This is a tragedy in the making

My own love for reading is indescribable, and I can't imagine why everyone doesn't love to read. My books are my most valuable possessions.

[PartyPooper]

6. The "Illiterate-In-Chief" doesn't even read newspapers.

How could we expect Junior to read a book?

He's such an example, eh?

:dunce:

[The Zanti Regent]

7. It's important to keep the masses ignorant and stupid!

How else will you continue to grow the Nazi Republican Party?

[PfcHammer]

9. "As people do better,

they start voting Republican, unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing."

- Kkkarl Rove

:thumbsdown:

[truebrit71]

8. I am the proud father of a VERACIOUS teenage reader....

All genres, all subjects, ALL the time....She likes books so much she has started writing her own short stories...

My wife has a love/hate relationship with my daughter and Borders/B+N...she loves the fact that my daughter reads so much...but hates the fact that she has to DRAG her out of the bookstore whenever we go....I kinda like it though..it takes the heat off me when I serruptitiously sidle up to the counter and try and hide the number of books I have picked up...!!!

My daughter also volunteers at the local library for a reading group...her first day was yesterday..we picked her up after her shift..she had FIVE books she had checked out....And she picked out titles that were in her school's 'suggested summer reading' list...

My wife and I were BEAMING with pride...

[progressivebydesign]

16. Congrats! I have nurtured a reading friendly household, too!

My 12 year old stepdaugher HATED reading when I came into her life. She was just turning 7, and would cry if she had to read for school. I took her to get her very first library card, and found a book series to get her hooked on reading.. and she hasn't looked back since. It's an enormous sense of pride to see the library ladies smile at her when she brings up a stack of books to check out on her card... Sometimes I have to force her to go outside and be active, otherwise she'd be in the house with her nose in a book all day!

My other stepdaughter is a voracious reader, when she has time. She works at Barnes & Noble. I do hope they will pass on our love of reading and books to their children, when the time comes.

I spent every extra moment at school in the school library as a volunteer worker.. I even donated several books from my own collection when I was in elementary school, to the library, so other kids could enjoy them, too. I can't imagine life without my books, or magazines, or newspapers... TV? I can take it or leave it.

[Emboldened Chimp]

64. Sounds like you might have a budding novelist on your hands...

Good job!

[Zerex71]

65. Then I hope the teenager knows how to spell...

...voracious. :)

Mike

[Manix]

10. ...good news for the repugs..they prey on the ignorant and misinformed.

[Swamp Rat]

11. The "Age of Literacy" is over. The paradigm has shifted ever since the

invention of radio and television. 'Tis sad but at least used books are now prevalent and cheap. Unfortunately my family has so many books that our two-story house nearly collapsed due to the excessive weight of thousands of books. Of course we didn't get rid of the books, but instead opted to install a few 4x4 beams to handle the weight and projected weight of additional books.

[janx]

12. This is sickening.

Fiction, poetry, and plays help us develop imagination and critical thinking that shape our views of the world.

No wonder we are so cliched these days, especially online.

It is so peaceful to read in bed with an open window. There is absolutely nothing like falling to sleep with a book. Movies are interesting, but they are FLAT compared to literature.

The big publishers are part of the media machine; their goal is profit, and now books associated with electronic media are all the rage--and yes, this pertains to POLITICAL books.

The only way I retain any sanity is to get away from popular culture and the mass media. I do this by reading, just for the joy of doing so.

[Swamp Rat]

18. When I lived in Brasil, I slept in a hammock and also used to read there,

slowly rocking from the breeze in front of an open window (or if the hammock was outside). My only inspiration to get up was to go swim in the ocean.

[LimpingLib]

13. Ive spent more on books in my short lifetime than on cars.

About $20,000++++ left my hands between the ages of 18 and 27 and I havnt regretted it one bit.

The problem is that except for languages for religous type texts I forget every language I ever learned (and I only learn them to study and read certain texts).

Infact I spend more now than ever though it mostly is when I must spend the money to get a scarce OOP book when the rae (and expensive)opportunity arrises.

The words I hate more than anything "Out Of Print" .

[AspenRose]

15. "Is our children learning?"

Sad, sad, sad.

No Child Left Behind = No Child Left a Chance

[Ready4Change]

17. I think they're spending time reading things other than books.

They just aren't reading "Literature." This isn't the death of literacy. It is perhaps the death of "Literature" being the basis of much human discourse, as that basis moves elsewhere.

The basis of literacy is in flux. For the moment it's focused on the NOW, via blogging, IM/Chat, forums, etc... I think other forms will emerge from that. Things which allow the author more time to think, things which allow people to find thoughts which are of interest. It's a ways off, but it took centuries to develop the works that make up the old world of "Literature." Some of those will find a translation into the new literacy, others won't fit. Those that don't fit will go the way of heiroglyphs, only to be read and studied by an eccentric few.

It's happened before, and it will happen again. The world shifts and some people get thrown off and declare it the end of the world. But the world just shrugs and moves onward.

[grasswire]

19. this is interesting

I frequent a chat room for book lovers on AOL. The other night it came out that some of the women feel "panicky" and "ill" when they get toward the end of the novel they are reading, and if they don't have another new book lined up to read they are depressed and anxious. These are intelligent people (one is a sports editor, another a nurse) who are reading fiction.

A couple of us were QUITE stunned by this admission. An addiction to reading? An obsession?

Who knew?

[Ready4Change]

20. Reading as an escape.

If you don't have your next reading subject lined up, you'll have to deal with what you're trying to excape from.

Just my .02. I used to read while riding the subway into work. On days when I forgot to bring something to read the ride was incredibly dull. I was burning through books at a furious pace during that time.

[Djinn]

21. I know how they feel

I hate getting to the end of a good book and if I don't have something else lined up I hate it even more.

Not much of a fiction reader but if pressed I will (as the other half puts it) read anything with words. There is no book 12 step program - not that I'd join it if there was, my books are my favourite things in my house.

[lostnfound]

22. Who needs fiction in times like these? 'A fictitious president...'

(Actually, I read at least a novel a month, plus a lot of nonfiction that I WISH was fiction.)

[NashVegas]

27. The modern fiction reader has two choices:

Mass-consumptive twaddle like the Davinci Code, or self-indulgent "literature," with beautifully-written prose that goes nowhere.

What's the last modern novel you can name that's won true acclaim and is accessible to both the literati and the masses, and is likely to still be under discussion in 30 years?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

28. I think this is at least partly true

I have found very few literary novels that don't feel like a chore to read. Because of this, I read mostly non-fiction and mysteries, many of which are very well written and full of depth. With mysteries, the author is required to keep the plot moving, and these books often contain quite a bit of social and political commentary.

[playahata1]

53. Literary fiction vs. commercial fiction

When I was in grad school, I noticed that the fiction section in the campus bookstore was divided into two catgeories: "Literature" and "Fiction." At first I didn't understand why, because I had always assumed that fiction is fiction. Before I could afford to patronize bookstores on a regular basis, I'd always gone to the library; all works of fiction were/are housed under one roof, figuratively speaking.

Then I learned the difference between literary fiction and commercial fiction, and, as my knowledge and consumption of literature has deepened, I kind of understand the need for this division. Still, places like Barnes & Noble and Waldenbooks -- haven't been to Borders yet -- have all their fiction in one place, whether commercial or literary.

[shrike]

33. I read literary novels by non-Americans

The Latin authors are my favorites, although I'm going to force myself to explore titles from elsewhere in the world. American fiction, sadly, has become quite boring.

[HuckleB]

42. I'm in the same boat.

Though I do seek out American and British authors. There is good work out there; it's just not so easy to find.

[HuckleB]

37. No one really knows what will remain under discussion in 30 years.

But to say that Ian McEwan's "Attonement," Nicholas Shakespeare's "The Dancer Upstairs," Viken Berberian's "The Cyclist," Sherman Alexie's "Ten Little Indians," or even Nick Hornby's books go nowhere is a rather large overstatement, IMHO.

[govegan]

61. Many of Alexie's works will be discussed many years from now

Don't forget "Reservation Blues" and "Indian Killer." I think he has not achieved the same brilliance in his novels as in his short stories and poetry, but they will be discussed. I really enjoyed "Reservation Blues."

Another writer whose novels will likely endure is Barbara Kingsolver.

This news is so depressing. As another suggested above, the WH is likely dancing in the hallways and cheering about this news.

[HuckleB]

63. I loved Reservation Blues.

But I don't think it's of the quality of something that will be discussed down the road. Indian Killer is one of the best crime books ever written, though few crime novel lovers have probably read it.

Still, I suspect that Alexie has a great novel in him, if he can just settle down and focus on something long enough to do it.

[Lorien]

38. Exactly! That's my constant complaint

about modern fiction; the Da Vinci Code was entertaining and fast paced, but the prose was sophomoric, and it had more cliches than a Jerry Bruckheimmer movie. Most new fiction aimed towards women is all prose, no plot (look at most of the Oprah selections).

My library is so vast that I'll soon need to move, because offloading a huge number of books just isn't going to happen. I'm drawn to those written before about 1945, the oldest in my collection having been published in 1647 (they were well made back then; no loose pages)! As an illustrator, I also collect many turn of the century volumes primarily for the inspiring illustrations. When I find these on ebay, the seller often notes "would look nice in a room with period decor" or "color plates that would look great mounted" :grr: it's getting harder and harder for me to find beautiful old books that are fully intact. It's disgusting!

A love of reading begins with being read to as a child. My mother read to us every evening before bedtime, until we were old enough to read junior novels ourselves. Please, read to your children! You'll be giving them the gift of a lifelong love of reading and learning.

[shimmergal]

51. Read to your children, and also

be sure they see YOU reading! Children learn by example, too.

[Lorien]

58. Almost every parent I know who does read to their kids

is a voracious reader themselves. The facts in the study posted are certainly of real concern, because the trend WILL have a ripple effect throughout the following generations.

[Astarho]

72. Interesting

In an editorial in the March 1997 issure of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Kristine Kathryn Rusch wrote an editorial about the failure of modernism in fiction. Modernism believes that narrative distorts reality so it should be abandoned, leaving us with stories that are stylistically brilliant, but dull.

Bill Buford in the June 24th 1996 edition of the New Yorker declared modernism a failure. Rusch said basically Science Fiction adopted modernism to gain legitimacy, but unlike mainstream sourced like the New Yorker, many in the sci-fi publishing refuse to examine it, and instead are blaming the readers. They publish books with no storytelling and then blame the readers for not buying them, ie. "they don't know a good book because they're style-deaf."

People still read Edgar Rice Burroughs because he told good stories, as opposed to many of his forgotten stylistic artiste contemporaries.

Interestingly mainstream non-fiction has adopted the narrative and their sales have gone up.

[NashVegas]

74. Not Surprising

The question is, is it modernism itself that failed, or did its followers miss something?

[HuckleB]

34. No. All forms of reading are on the decline.

Literature -- since it is less able to make big headlines with saucy "reality," and political backbiting -- is only declining a bit faster. This faster decline may actually show how subtlety is being lost on the public, which may account for our lack of genuine debate.

[funnymanpants]

49. I don't see any such trend

Reading on the internet is much different from reading a novel. In fact, I read a study that shows the internet was decreasing literacy skills.

If you can't read well, it doesn't matter how much inforation is available on the internet.

I was just reading a book that quoted a study done on technology. It stated that technology caused peoples' thinking to be very superficial.

I also don't know what you mean when you say "It's happened before, and it will happen again." Literacy is a relatively new phenomana. Literacy has never shifted before.

You are making vague generizations.

[Ready4Change]

73. It's happened before.

Jack Kerouac made a lot of people declare the impending death of fine literature. Now his works are classics (albeit debated classics in many circles.)

It's like people who think that the only worthwhile music is classical. Or that Rock and Roll died with Elvis. People pick a line in the sand, and declare "here ends all things." Then they stand there and ignore all the people up and down the beach, standing adamantly next to their own lines.

The information age is a wave washing away those lines. It's up to you to stand there and ignore the waves, or to pay attention to the new shapes it leaves behind.

[funnymanpants]

75. Your reasoning is faulty

First, Kerouac's works are not considered classics by literary scholars. Kerouac has a cult following, nothing more.

Your reasoning goes like this: changes happened in the past; people resisted the change, but the change turned out to be good. Likewise, backwards people will resist this change, but in the end it will turn out to be good.

The problem with this thinking is that not all change is good or benevolent. Take an extreme example, the Nazis coming to power in the 30's. A Nazi in the 30's could argue "Well, people resisted feudalism in the past. Likewise, they are resisting what will prove to be the next advance for mankind."

The person arguing that a change is positive must be specific. Arguing as you have done is too general to prove anything.

You end your post with a nauseating metaphor:

"The information age is a wave washing away those lines. It's up to you to stand there and ignore the waves, or to pay attention to the new shapes it leaves behind."

This metaphor proves nothing, since it again is too general. To me the wave looks like mass apathy and consumerism; it doesn't feel or look like anything I have felt at the beach.

In this so-called information age, literacy is actually down! I know this from first-hand experience, having taught at a college for 3 years and taught in the public schools for 10. Whereas when I went to school pupils had to read many more books, teachers now drag their pupils to the computer lab. Pupils do a bit of cutting and pasting. And that counts as the fullfillment of an assignment.

I should ad that I believe myself to be very computer competent. I operate the linux operating system and have written one very useful program.

However, I really bristle at what nationally-known writer Wendell Berry calls technological fundementalists. Like Christian fundementalists, their belief in technology rests more with belief than reason; like Christian fundementalists, their thinking is both smug and shallow.

I have seen such stupidity on many mailing lists, in which geeks confuse code with thinking and feeling.

[Ready4Change]

77. (grin) You haven't been to some beaches I've been to.

Some beaches are beautiful. Some are awash in medical waste. I agree that not all change is benevolent, and that we don't know what the fruits of the information age will be. If history is any indication, they'll be mixed, and whether they are mostly good or mostly bad will depend on your individual viewpoint.

Look at the beautiful sunset. Look at the plastic shopping bag that just washed ashore.

I do know many instances where kids are far less literate than they used to be. But I know of some instances where they are doing fine. I'll grant that, on average, I think kids are less knowledgable of literature than they were 20 years ago.

On the other hand, how many kids 20 years ago (1984) were comfortable doing web searches. sending or receiving emails, or had the potential for daily real-time communications with other kids around the world?

Rather than bemoaning the downfall of all that is good due to changes, why not look for ways to harness the change to bring about better outcomes?

Or shall we burn all the computers to save the children?

[lazarus]

23. I used to work in a chicken plant

Hey, it was the best paying job in the area.

On break, I'd always have a book out. I remember reading Churchill's "History of the English Speaking Peoples" one day, and having folks around me ask if I was in college. I replied I was just reading it for pleasure.

I've never seen so many frighteningly blank looks before. These people thought that reading a book was only something one did if one had to.

That's why the Republicans are able to win so often. They've captured the broadcast media, which is how most people get their news.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

30. That's what I found as a college professor!

Usually a class of 25 students would contain about 3 or 4 students who were avid readers.

As a language teacher, I always gave homework assignments that required the students to express their own reality in terms of the linguistic forms they were learning. When I gave them the assignment of making ten statements each about what they enjoyed and what they hated doing, I could count on a significant minority saying that they hated reading. This was in a college that took only the top 1/3 of high school graduates.

Since most of the students seemed completely ignorant of and uninterested in the country whose language they were supposed to be learning, I took a cue from the other language teachers and required them to earn 3 culture credits per semester. Activities such as seeing a Japanese movie, attending a presentation by the Japanese exchange students, reading and summarizing a magazine article about Japanese culture, and making a scrapbook of a week's worth of news articles about Japan each earned one point, and the students could earn their whole three points at once by reading a Japanese novel in translation or a non-fiction book about Japan.

I recall students who tried to convince me that a tourist pamphlet counted as a book instead of an article.

But the saddest thing was that some of the students who were avid readers didn't want other students to know it.

[HuckleB]

36. This is part of what makes me wonder about the increase in ADHD Dx.

Is much of it environmental, due to the time spent with video games, television, talk radio and, now, the Internet? Is it actually now painful for people to sit with a book? To sit and do anything that takes extended thought?

[funnymanpants]

52. As a former college instructor

at a state university (University of Kentucky), I can tell you that you were lucky to have 3 avid readers in your class. On the first day of class I would ask how many students had actually read a book. Only 1 or 2 had done so!

[playahata1]

50. One of my brother's UPS co-workers is an AVID reader.

This guy brings a book or two (or magazines) to work every day, my brother says. As a result, this guy is up on his politics, history, and current events. (BTW, I covered/knew this guy when he was playing high-school football in the early 90s; he got a scholarship to a small college in the Midwest.)

I wish MY BROTHER would read more, though. :-(

[playahata1]

55. You write:

<<<I've never seen so many frighteningly blank looks before. These people thought that reading a book was only something one did if one had to.>>>

Did you ever get the feeling that your co-workers felt THREATENED by you reading? Did you observe them feeling and thinking as if you made them feel stupid and ignorant by comparison? I have always gotten funny looks from folks who see me with a book or a magazine in my hands. My attitude has always been: screw 'em, it's their loss.

[Ivan Zero]

62. I think some people do feel threatened

At an old job, I was once accused by a co-worker of "showing off" because I had the habit of reading whatever novel I was on in the break room.

I asked her how quietly reading in the corner constituted "showing off" in any sense of the word. She told me it looked like I thought I was better than everyone, that I was too good to join in their conversations.

Now, my co-workers were mainly married women in their 40s, and the break room convos invariably revolved around beauty tips, disciplining children, and the bad habits of husbands. Why, I can't possibly imagine why a childless and then-unattached guy in his late 20s wouldn't want to participate!

I just shrugged and told her I didn't think I was better than anyone, I just wanted to relax. Got a funny look that undoubtedly meant "Relax? With a ... BOOK?"

So that's a lot of what's going on when you get funny looks for reading in public. You don't fit into a certain paradigm of what "normal" people do for pleasure.

[llmart]

24. I work in a public library.....

and it has become the new "video store". On a daily basis the number of videos or CD's checked out exceeds the number of books. The parents who bring their children to the library at an early age foster avid readers and those children turn out to be the best students. I, of course, am most certainly "addicted" to reading and have been since I was 5, as are my two grown children. And, yes, I have to have a book "waiting in the wings" when I'm about to finish one because I would feel lost without another book to read. People who do not read are not very knowledgeable about the world around them.

[funnymanpants]

54. Pathetic!

I've noticed the same thing at my local library.

A good movie is hardly half as good as even a mediocre book.

[CRK7376]

25. I've been an avid reader since

1968 when I was in the 4th grade...I would go insane without books. I have them everywhere and read daily...My kids are heading that way too..Even when the tv is on I tend to have a book in hand...Makes my wife nuts some times as I'm more engaged with the book than her conversation etc....

[Tracer]

26. My town's library has the highest ...

... circulation in the state. It's a busy, busy place!

I go there every Saturday morning to check out my week's worth of reading.

One thing that strikes me is the LOW QUALITY of American writing, as compared to books by British authors. I've mistakenly taken out any number of books, based on a fairly interesting premise on the flap Ñ only to be appalled by the miserably dumb writing and I wonder how the hell do crummy books like those pass the smell test at the publishing company?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. That's certainly true in the mystery field

The mysteries by British authors tend to be much more literate and sophisiticated than the ones by American authors, even in the so-called "cozy" subgenre.

[carolinayellowdog]

29. Public library visits up, book circulation down

Hey,

I just compiled annual statistics and found the third consecutive year of increased patron visits, but book circulation declined almost 5% in a year. This is not atypical of public libraries nationwide. While small children's books and adult books are holding their own OK, books for older children are really languishing on the shelves. That's a bad omen for the future.

CYD

[getting old in mke]

31. On the other hand

Teens are writing extensively far more than any previous generation--between blogs and fan-fiction, there is an enormous outpouring of prose out there.

Not good prose, much of it, but with rare exceptions that has always been true of early life scribblings. If this generation gets the same "hit rate" on talent as previous ones, the large increase in the the number of writers learning be comfortable turning out prose should guarantee a vibrant literary revival in a couple of decades.

Of course, we readers may need to learn to read l33t to appreciate it. :)

[HuckleB]

35. Is this a local study?

[carolinayellowdog]

45. Yes, a rural Virginia public library

but the trend of increased use and declining or steady book circulation is national. Public access computer sessions here went up +39.8% and patron visits were up +2.8%, but book circulation declined in almost every category.

[HuckleB]

46. Hmmmm.

Maybe it's the rain, except it doesn't rain here anymore, but circulation in Multnomah and King counties in the northwest is on the rise. Granted, computer sessions are on the rise much more so.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

32. I blame popular culture, especially the mass media,

I was reminded of this last night when I watched the movie In and Out on cable.

It had many funny scenes, and I realize that it was supposed to be satire, but it was uncomfortably close to reality. After the former student outs Kevin Kline's character, Mr. Bracken, the current students analyze the reasons why the former student might have pegged him as gay: he dresses well, is neat, likes books and poetry, dances well, is a nice person, etc.

And wouldn't you know, Mr. Bracken turns out really to be gay. So in effect, while this movie for a mass audience preaches against bigotry, it also reinforces the idea that heterosexual men are supposed to be ignorant and crude.

It would have been much more original and thought-provoking if he had turned out to be straight and that it was okay for straight men to like books and poetry--and that one of the macho characters in the movie was actually gay.

Pop culture has subtly preached the social undesirability of reading and other intellectual pursuits ever since I can remember, which is back to the mid 1950s.

[Exultant Democracy]

48. I would blame parents

with something like reading the key is to get them young. I was in love with books even before I could read them myself.

[chimpy the poopthrower]

39. My hypothesis -- less leisure time

In addition to the fact that many people are spending more time "reading" the Internet, as some posters have already discussed, I think the other main explanation is less leisure time across the board. Even children have less leisure time than they used to. The fact that readers tend to be more involved in charity work, attending museums, going to ballgames, etc. makes me think they may simply have more leisure time than others. I don't think it has as much to do with anti-intellectualism as some seem to believe. I know that I would read far more if I simply had the time. Stress may be another factor. It's hard to relax and curl up with a book when you're worried about the economy, terrorism, and other issues. I haven't missed the irony that reading could probably help reduce the stress levels of many people - if they could only bring themselves to do it.

[HuckleB]

41. It's definitely a factor.

Though I know many people have little leisure time out of necessity, for many Americans, it is about the choices they make. Part of it is the space we put between ourselves and others, including activities. If it takes so much time to get anywhere in order to do anything, no wonder we participate in fewer civic activities and read less. Another factor that compounds, and is compounded by this space and time issue, is the lack of exercise most Americans get, making most of us too tired to read, but leaving us awake enough to sit in front of the tube, as good sleep escapes us.

And on and on...

[bikebloke]

43. An Anecdotal Observation

Waiting for books on reserve in the public library used to be a long wait. Now, it seems to be a few weeks at the most, even if the library system has only a few copies. Great for we readers. Not looking good for the rest of society.

I read as a child. Then in high school we had to read "Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man". For some reason it was a catalyst for my voracity in reading. And early on I discovered that I had neither the room, nor the money to buy every book I wanted to read. Hence, I began using the library. Back in 1975, I thought of keeping a list of my reads out of curiosity for a couple months. Crikey, it's reached the thousands now.

[HuckleB]

47. Not in Multnomah County.

And we've got plenty of copies of books. It's one of the best funded library systems in the country, and I still wait for months for books.

[Tracer]

56. Ask your library to institute a ...

... "speed read" policy!

My library just did this and it's terrific (at least for the speed readers). Now I don't have to wait weeks to read a popular book. I just mosey over to the speed read section and I almost always have a choice of NY Times bestsellers.

Edited to add the "speed read" means you have to return the book in 7 days.

[kayell]

44. Reading is for sissies

and whining effete lib'ruls. Or so you would imagine from the way it is usually depicted on tv, in jokes, and by our pResident. Proud to be an ignorant 'murkin should be the slogan on many peoples t-shirts.

An educated citizen is not as likely to be a compliant citizen. Dumbing us down has been a repuke strategy for decades.

[shimmergal]

57. Other surveys show worse figures.

Most of the reading-rate research that I've come across in the professional library literature reflects the following:

Approx. 1/3 of adult Americans read books by choice (as well as other things)

Approx. another 1/3 of adult Americans voluntarily read only magazine, newspapers, and/or material required for their work

The last 1/3 of adult Americans read NOTHING unless it's under duress. (presumably they do sometimes read road signs, names on product labels, etc. but nobody knows for sure.)

Of course, as with all polls and surveys, the way questions are framed can skew the answers. For example, in the NEA survey, the question apparently was: "Have you read a novel, short story, play, or poetry in the past year?" Just one would qualify as a yes, as would attendance at a play or other cultural events.

In other surveys, the question usually is, "Do you read {books] regularly for pleasure?" This normally amounts to reading several books a year, minimum. On the other hand, although it's sometimes broken down into fiction and non-fiction, the 1/3 total includes both. BTW, a significant percentage of respondents read ONLY fiction, or ONLY non-fiction, rather than both.

The part of the survey I find most ominous is about the "losing young readers." During upper grade school and junior h.s. years, I encouraged my daughters to read as much as they wanted to: "You'll never again have as much time in your life to read as you do now." And they did (read). And it's true; (never having so much time to read again.) Both are now so busy with careers, child care and worries, and the other stuff that life throws at you during the child raising years that the reading time has fallen drastically. People who've never had a time when they reveled in books are unlikely to discover the joys of reading as an adult.

Other media are not the same. They each bring a different set of intellectual skills and approaches into play. Reading is unique, however: "TV puts pictures in front of your eyes. Books put pictures in your mind."

[Lisa]

59. nothing like opening a book and finding someone's nose stuck in it!

But seriously -- this is troubling. For one thing, people who rely on TV broadcasts for news just aren't getting as much of it (the average newshour isn't long enough to read half the average "A" section of any newspaper out loud).

[carolinayellowdog]

60. Statewide per capita library circulation 1999-2003 (VA)

1999-- 7.59
2000-- 7.76
2001-- 7.93
2002-- 6.90
2003-- 6.97

Tight budgets account for some of the decline, but this is still a worrisome pattern.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

68. The sharp decline between 2001 and 2002

is interesting. Were these statistics compiled at the end of each year? Do you think 9/11 may have influenced the decline?

[carolinayellowdog]

69. End of fiscal year

I can't imagine that 9/11 was a factor, but the state budget took a big hit in the last quarter of fiscal 2002. Still, an entire point in per capita readership is more than one would expect from a short term reduction in book purchasing.

[llmart]

71. At our library....

when we report circulation numbers to the Board of Directors, it includes all items that circulate - not just reading material. So, just for your information, circulation numbers are not a good indication of the amount of reading the public is doing.

[Zerex71]

66. My take

I don't know about anyone else on this board, but I have to say, I'm at the point where I pretty much look down on anyone who was not educated or at least pointed in the direction of the classics, and the finest of the literature (and no, Oprah's Book Club, Harry Potter, and David Sedaris do not count). I know that is a statement which shocks a lot of people, but then again, I don't really give a Cheney. My point is two-fold:

One, much of what is popular is not necessarily all that great or inventive. It's publicized by the likes of an Oprah because it sells, or can easily be made to sell. If, for example, James Joyce wrote his "Ulysses" nowadays, it would go nowhere because of its density, complexity, and extreme risk-taking, and the expansion of the bounds of literature. No one really does that kind of writing anymore, my chief complaint being that writers either are simply not that inventive in form, tone, theme, language, structure, character, or dialogue, and they don't really seem to try.

Two, I posit that reading the classics -- as well as taking in the classic arts and high forms of music such as jazz and classical, to name two genres -- makes one a happier person, in the overall sense of the word (not the "Gee, I feel happier today"...perhaps satisfaction is more like it). There is an almost spiritual elevation in finding and seeking out those rare lights and talents which bring something different to art, and I don't need a multimillion-dollar talk show host telling me what to read. The advancement of the understanding of our human condition is not served by reading -- or watching, listening to, or reflecting on -- mainstream pap.

Mike

[Astarho]

70. Frightening, but not surprising

I've met people who bragged that they have never read a book longer than fifty pages unless they were forced to. The anti-intellectualism in this country is staggering.

I have always loved reading and my bedroom looks like a library, several bookshelves filled on the one wall. The love of ready has turned to a love or writing (I've written four novels so far).

[JohnOneillsMemory]

76. TV=death. Kill it before it kills your brain. Period.

I grew up without TV and read constantly.

That's the key difference between me and the pro-Bush* people I meet. They watch televised propaganda all their lives.

I watch none and know things they can't begin to comprehend.

[reprobate]

78. A sure sign of a society in devolution.

With reading goes critical thinking, and our illustrious leaders can't have use learning anything about thinking critically. If we did, we wouldn't believe their lies.

They want us to work for the ever declining pitance they are willing to pay and then spend it all and more to buy the crap they want to sell us.

Americans have been brainwashed into the belief that there is something basically wrong with them and the only way to fix that lack is to buy their unnecessary and ineffective products.

Perhaps next time around our society will be based on truth, not commercial lies.