NEA Study Shows Most Americans Read After All
A recent study by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) shows that 55 percent of Americans read for pleasure—if you add their use of e-books and audio books to print books—contradicting a misperception of a decline in book reading in the U.S.
“Declines in book reading may not be as severe as previously reported. Instead, the nation’s readership appears to be shifting from print-only to digital and audio platforms,” according to the NEA. “By including e-readers and audiobooks in the way we track overall book reading, the 2017 rates are closer to those in 2012 and 2008.”
The NEA study, “How Do We Read: Let’s Count the Ways,” used data from the 2017 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). The NEA, an independent federal agency that supports and promotes artistic excellence, released its research findings in March.
2 Key Research Findings
Those who are concerned about the state of book reading in the U.S. will be pleased to know that Americans are not only reading and listening to books, but readers are also actively engaged in various literary activities.
The study found that digital/audio readers are much more likely than print-only readers to participate in literary activities in the following ways:
• Being part of a reading group, with digital/audio readers at 16 percent compared to 2.6 percent of print-only readers.
• Doing creative writing, with digital/audio readers at 19.4 percent compared with 6.7 percent of print-only readers.
• Overall, audio book listeners participate more in literary activities than e-book readers.
Another key finding shows that among adults, more people use digital/audio platforms than print-only. Here’s the breakdown for digital/audio readers:
• E-books (but not audiobooks): 50.6 percent
• E books and audiobooks: 35.6 percent
• Audiobooks (but not e-books): 13.8 percent
Learn more about the NEA study:
NEA Releases Report About Changes to Nation’s Reading Habits
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