The decline of readership in the US.

"Fewer Noses Stuck in Books in America, Survey Finds"
By Bruce Weber, NYT, 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....

   " '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, [emphasis added]' he said, calling the survey results 'deeply alarming.'

   "...The survey also makes a striking correlation between readers of literature and those who are socially engaged, noting that readers are far more likely than nonreaders to do volunteer and charity work and go to art museums, performing arts events and ballgames. 'Whatever good things the new electronic media bring, they also seem to be creating a decline in cultural and civic participation,' Mr. Gioia said. 'Of literary readers, 43 percent perform charity work; only 17 percent of nonreaders do. That's not a subtle difference.'" [story continues...]

NEA Announcement

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