Book readership slips in U.S.

Fewer Americans are reading books, with rates declining the fastest among younger and Hispanic readers, a report says.

“The lowest absolute reading rate is [among] Hispanics, even when taking into account books in other languages, which we did,” said Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which conducted the survey. “But the largest absolute decline is among younger readers.”

The NEA reports that 47 percent of American adults read literature, defined as novels and nonfictional books, short stories, poems and plays. The most widely read among the literature group are novels and short stories, which are read by 45 percent of Americans, or 93 million people.

The study says literary reading overall has declined 10 percent from 1982 to 2002. This represents a loss of 20 million readers.

Mr. Gioia said significant social and cultural implications are at stake.

“If competing in the 21st century, some imaginative development has been, and only can be, expressed through reading and writing. A decline in reading will diminish our productivity and innovation. Compared to nonreaders, readers attend sporting events 3-to-1. Readers also volunteer more and do more charity. They go to museums and plays more,” he said.

He said computers, pocket video games and DVD players have contributed significantly to the decline in reading.

“Active and engaged reading produces active and engaged citizens. With all of the new inventions — DVDs, VCRs, IPods, computers, the Internet, and video games — people still watch the same amount of TV as they did 20 years ago, [and] that time is being taken away from two major activities: reading and civic engagement,” Mr. Gioia said.

Book sales decreased about 1 percent from 2002 to 2003. The biggest decline was in adult literature, but sales of the popular Harry Potter series are estimated to have offset this number.

“The categories [juvenile and adult] move independently,” said Jeff Abraham, executive director of the Book Industry Study Group, which researches and monitors issues affecting book sales. “There is no doubt that things like Harry Potter dampened the effects of the overall decrease, but all in all, the bottom line has remained relatively flat.”

However, Mr. Abraham warned that book sales don’t give an accurate measurement of readership.

“An increase in net dollar sales doesn’t necessarily indicate an increase in the number of actual units sold. Net dollar sales are determined by changes in prices. When books cost more, there are higher net dollar sales, but that doesn’t mean that there are higher amounts of books being sold,” he said.

Book sales are expected to dip again this year but rise from 2005 to 2007.

“There are more college grads than ever, but fewer are reading,” Mr. Gioia said. “We need to develop ideas to develop adult readers — the problem isn’t just kids. Oprah’s book club is good, but we need hundreds more like it.”

The Census Bureau conducted the study, “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America,” at the NEA’s request.

“The NEA doesn’t have all of the answers,” Mr. Gioia said. “This is going to require national efforts, with many groups, institutions and organizations working in many ways to reverse this, but we will make this information available for the public. We want to create a national debate about the importance of this. There are different solutions for different groups. Everyone falls into a group, no matter how you define that group. … We consider this a national crisis.”