Read any good books lately?

Leisure-time reading is becoming a rare American pastime

The United States is becoming a nation of nonreaders, which should be of concern to teachers, librarians and anyone who cares about an educated, informed citizenry, according to a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Endowment chair Dana Gioia summarizes the "Reading at Risk" report this way: "Literary reading in America is not only declining rapidly among all groups, but the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the young." He notes that the report documents a "huge cultural transformation" in the country away from books and toward electronic media for entertainment and information.

The report, based on a 2002 Census Bureau survey of more than 17,000 adults, also includes comparisons with similar surveys from 1982 and 1992. For the first time in that 20-year period, the percentage of Americans who reported reading any literature (novels, short stories, plays or poetry) in the last 12 months in their leisure time fell below 50 percent. The figures are 56.9 percent in 1982, 54 percent in 1992 and 46.7 percent in 2002. That 10 percent decline in reading represents a loss of 20 million potential readers, the report points out.

Women continue to read more literature than men do, but rates among both sexes are declining significantly. The 2002 figures show that barely one-third of adult males (37.6 percent) now read literature. The latest figure for women is 55.1 percent. Declining rates also cross all education levels, age ranges and ethnic groups. Perhaps most alarming is that during the past two decades, young adults (ages 18-34) have gone from being the group most likely to read literature to the opposite end of the spectrum, trailing only adults ages 65 and older as nonreaders. The rate of decline for the very youngest group (ages 18-24) tracked over that period was 28 percent.

While the demise of leisure-time reading is discouraging on its face, Gioia argues that the trend "parallels a larger retreat from participation in civic and cultural life." In fact, the survey indicates that literary readers are far more likely to perform volunteer and charity work, visit art museums, attend performing arts events and even sporting events. Not surprisingly, one area where nonreaders rank higher is television viewing. As fewer Americans read, Gioia says, "our nation becomes less informed, active and independent minded. These are not qualities that a free, innovative or productive society can afford to lose."

The report does not outline specific recommendations to turn the tide back toward reading, but it calls on concerned groups and citizens to pay attention to the trend and address it in their own ways. "It is time," the report says, "to inspire a nationwide renaissance of literary reading and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of all citizens."

The complete version of "Reading at Risk" is available online at www.arts.endow.gov/pub/readingatrisk.pdf.