Readers

An Associated Press report released in August of this year provided a snapshot view of American readers. Highlights include:

• Gallup Poll asked how many books people had at least started in the last year. The average answer was five, down from ten in 1999.
• A National Endowment for the Arts report found that only 57% of America adults had read a book 2002.
• An Associated Press-Ipsos poll recently released found that one in four adults read no books at all in the past year.
• Yet, publishers showed $35.7 billion in global book sales last year, a 3% increase over the previous year.

I found a bit of hometown encouragement in the additional note that "people from the West and Midwest are more likely to have read at least one book in the past year," and that "Democrats and liberals typically read slightly more than Republicans and conservatives" do. ... proud to be a liberal Minnesota and happy that cold winters still make being curled up under a warm blanket with a hot cup of cocoa and a good book the best place to be.