The NEA says there are more readers and many of them read digitally!

This may be the first good news about reading that I have seen in years!

A new National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) study reveals that for the first time in 25 years American adults are reading more.  How about that!

The biggest increase is among young adults (18-24).  A full 21% over the last six years (2002-2008). The NEA is quick to credit reading programs such as their own "Big Read" initiative for this dramatic turn around.

I am somewhat skeptical about this conclusion.  Conspicuously absent is any reference to the publishing phenomena of J K Rowling or Stephanie Meyers.  I remember that Scholastic, the publisher of the Harry Potter series, reported a significant loss in earnings every quarter they did NOT have a new Harry Potter title.

My (admittedly limited) exposure to this particular age group tells me that they are reading J K Rowling and Stephanie Meyers and not a whole lot else.  I think the NEA is perhaps slightly more impressed with themselves than is truly warranted. 

The most curious increase to me is this:  15% for readers in the 75+ age demographic.  I would love an explanation here.  Large print books?  Seems unlikely.  Faulty polling in earlier polls?  Not that they would admit to!

One part of the report that is not necessarily highlighted is the statistics that correlate book reading and online reading.  Of course, I find these worth these worth taking a close look at:

• 84% of adults who read literature (fiction, poetry, or drama) on or downloaded from the Internet also read books, whether print or online.
• Nearly 15% of all U.S. adults read literature online in 2008.
• For adults who read online articles, essays or blogs, the reading rate is 77%.

It seems that perhaps the Internet will not be the death of books.  Or at least not yet. 

Which brings me to my final observation about this report.  The NEA carefully defines a book as something between physical covers.  It does not account for eBooks or audio books.  In the case of audio books because (evidently) listening is not really reading.  In the case of eBooks because of their strictly defined poll format.  They are proud to let you know that the questionnaire has "remained fundamentally consistent for 26 years." 

A lot has changed in the last 26 years!  In 1982 the internet as we know it did not exist.  There were no Ipods, MP3 players, or cell phones.  I would like to see the NEA catch up with current technology and include eBooks and even audio books in their computations. 

Probably a small complaint in the scheme of things!  Because in the end, any increase in reading is a good thing!

del.icio.us Tags: NEA,Reading,digital reading,literacy

Electronic Reading vs Print Reading

The National Endowment for the Arts has concluded a three year study on reading trends in the US. The study, entitled To Read or Not to Read was released earlier this month.

The reports concludes that

• voluntary reading rates are dropping
• reading skills are "worsening" among teens
• adults are becoming less proficient readers

Pretty grim news for people like me who's life is all about books and reading.

It was with some trepidation that I downloaded the 98 very dry, dull pages and began to read them. Just as I was beginning to nod off I came across this little gem:

Opinions aside, there is a shortage of scientific research on the effects of screen reading—not only on long-term patterns of news consumption, but more importantly, on the development of young minds and young readers. (A good research question is whether the hyperlinks, pop-up windows, and other extra-textual features of screen reading can sharpen a child’s ability to perform sustained reading, or whether they impose unhelpful distractions.) (To Read or Not to Read p53)

That woke me up. I decided I didn't need to torture myself anymore and deleted the report from my machine.

There is an assumption here that I violently disagree with -- the only reading worth studying or reporting on is a printed page in a book.

So not true!

My email, RSS feeds and blogs provide me with more reading material in one day than I used to get in an entire month.

I could tell that this is all work related and not in any sense voluntary. I would be lying.

Everyday, I follow links that take me to very strange places. Who hasn't had the experience of becoming intrigued with some weird factoid and going off on a reading tangent totally unrelated to anything! In my particular case if someone sends me a Facebook link it is very possible that an hour later I am making new friends - after reading all about them. I don't even want to discuss YouTube!

Are they unhelpful distractions? Who knows for sure. What we do know (from experience) is that those distractions very often keep us doing sustained reading. AND we are in fact reading things we probably never would have had access to or read any other way. Say what you will, it is still reading. And it is not exactly unpopular.

Look around any Starbucks and count the number of people typing on laptops, PDAs and cellphones. Count those reading newspapers. If they are not reading, what exactly are they doing?

The NEA is alarmed and gloomy about reading in America. I am not. Call me a crazy optimist; but the evidence of my own eyes suggests that reading is alive and well and maybe even on the upstroke.

Technorati Tags: ebooks,electronic books,electronic reading,PDA,laptop reading. National Endowment for the Arts,NEA,To Read or Not to Read