Reading On The Rise - More American Adults Read Literature According to New NEA Study

More American Adults Read Literature According to New NEA Study

Literary reading on the rise for first time in history of Arts Endowment survey
NEA: January 12, 2009

Washington, D.C. -- For the first time in more than 25 years, American adults are reading more literature, according to a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts. Reading on the Rise documents a definitive increase in rates and numbers of American adults who read literature, with the biggest increases among young adults, ages 18-24. This new growth reverses two decades of downward trends cited previously in NEA reports such as Reading at Risk and To Read or Not To Read.

"At a time of immense cultural pessimism, the NEA is pleased to announce some important good news. Literary reading has risen in the U.S. for the first time in a quarter century," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "This dramatic turnaround shows that the many programs now focused on reading, including our own Big Read, are working. Cultural decline is not inevitable."

Some Key Findings:

~ For the first time in the history of the survey - conducted 5 times since 1982 - the overall rate at which adults read literature (novels and short stories, plays, or poems) rose by 7%.

~ There were 16.6 million more adult readers of literature in 2008. The growth in new readers reflects higher adult reading rates combined with overall population growth.

Some Demographics:

~ Young adults show the most rapid increases in literary reading. Since 2002, 18-24 year olds have seen the biggest increase (9 %) in literary reading, and the most rapid rate of increase (21 %). This jump reversed a 20 % rate of decline in the 2002 survey, the steepest rate of decline since the NEA survey began.

~ Since 2002, reading has increased at the sharpest rate among Hispanic Americans (+20%), African Americans by 15 %, and among Whites at an 8% rate of increase.

Some Trends in media and literary preferences

~ Fiction (novels and short stories) accounts for the new growth in adult literary readers.
~ Reading poetry and drama continues to decline, especially poetry-reading among women.

Nearly 15 % of all U.S. adults read literature online in 2008. READ ON