Who's reading in the United States?

Abstract

Purpose

To introduce statistics and issues raised in national study of American reading habits.

Design/methodology/approach

Highlights from the National Endowment of the Arts reading survey, which was conducted in 2002 and published in 2004, are presented. These are presented alongside personal views on the current trends.

Findings

A downturn in literary reading, as noted in the survey, is countered when compared with library circulation statistics over the same period. A major consideration is that many people now listen to their books, instead of reading them.

Originality/value

The paper questions the popular blame of the internet for the downward trend in literary reading.

Citation

Long, S.A. (2005), "Who's reading in the United States?", New Library World, Vol. 106 No. 1/2, pp. 80-82. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074800510575375