Reading on the Rise

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) issued the results of a their periodic study of the reading habits of Americans. For the first time in 5 years, the percentage of American reading is increasing, up from 46.7% in 2002 to 50.2% in 2008.

Other highlights include:

• There were 16.6 million more adult readers of literature in 2008
• Young adults show the most rapid increases in literary reading. Since 2002, 18-24 year olds have seen the biggest increase (nine percent) in literary reading, and the most rapid rate of increase (21 percent). This jump reversed a 20 percent rate of decline in the 2002 survey, the
• Online readers also report reading books. Eighty-four percent of adults who read literature (fiction, poetry, or drama) on or downloaded from the Internet also read books, whether print or online.
• Nearly 15 percent of all U.S. adults read literature online in 2008.
• For the first time in the survey's history, literary reading has increased among both men and women.
• Since 2002, reading has increased at the sharpest rate (+20 percent) among Hispanic Americans, Reading rates have increased among African Americans by 15 percent, and among Whites at an eight percent rate of increase.
• Reading is an important indicator of positive individual and social behavior patterns.