The National Endowment for the Arts Says We’re Reading More
Everyone’s seen this story: for the first time in twenty-five years, the decline in reading in America appears to have been reversed. According to the NEA’s statistics, reading is on the rise. (If, by some crazy chance, you haven’t heard about this yet, you can read the NY Times’ coverage of it here.) Since many people have spent a lot of time lately moaning about how our national computer addiction is going to destroy reading as we know it, this news comes as a welcome surprise to those of us who love books.
In a recent Wall Street Journal piece, novelist Ann Patchett (Bel Canto) discusses the new statistics at great length and makes a plea for us all to continue the trend by reading, encouraging others to read, and by support ing our local libraries. Patchett says she wasn’t surprised to hear that people are reading more: after all, this younger generation has grown up on Harry Potter and, as she puts it, ”They came of age attending midnight release parties at their local bookstores and then faking mysterious illnesses the next day for the absolute necessity of staying in bed to read. ” Read the rest of this entry »
Claire
Kim
