16 May 2011

Sad statistics re the public's book-reading habits

1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.

70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
Data via the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop and The Centered Librarian.

16 comments:

  1. UnknownMay 16, 2011 at 12:28 PM

    ...statistics from a publishing group. I'm skeptical. Especially because books are selling fairly well online.

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  2. AnonymousMay 16, 2011 at 2:25 PM

    I am skeptical too, 90% of the people I am aquinted with read and I don't consider myself part of a great scholastic circle. (The other 10% are too exhausted raising their small children, lol)

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  3. AnonymousMay 16, 2011 at 3:42 PM

    I also find these numbers a bit difficult to believe. (And their source seems rather shady.) I doubt that 42% of college graduates never read any of the Twilight or Harry Potter books. (Just to used the two most obvious examples.)

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  4. AbieMay 16, 2011 at 5:24 PM

    I'd rather not believe those depressing figures, and it seems they are off: the median number of books read in a year appears to be 4 according to this article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20381678/ns/us_news-life/t/poll-one-four-adults-read-no-books-last-year/
    Not stellar, but much easier to reconcile with the sale figures of saga such as Harry Potter.

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  5. strideranneMay 16, 2011 at 6:48 PM

    I'm betting that 0% of TYWKIWDBI readers are in any of these categories...

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  6. MinnesotastanMay 16, 2011 at 7:18 PM

    Hmmmm... maybe I should post a poll on how many books we read a year.

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  7. BarbwireMay 16, 2011 at 8:36 PM

    I read between two and five books per week, depending on the size of the books. I have done so as long as I can remember. My three daughters all read, their husbands and children all read. I don't buy many books, but I go to the library at least every two weeks. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't read for pleasure, to learn something new, or become informed.

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  8. AnonymousMay 16, 2011 at 8:50 PM

    I have no faith in these numbers. One interesting point though - with all of the new E-Books/online devices, I would expect less traffic at book stores.

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  9. NinabiMay 16, 2011 at 10:44 PM

    I love to read. I cannot imagine not buying or borrowing books. My husband is not an avid reader- and yet he always has science fiction or fantasy paperbacks with him on his travels.

    Do we live in a sheltered world of literature or do people truly not read for pleasure anymore?

    I would enjoy a what-are-you-reading? post as I am constantly looking for new books to read.

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  10. Cat RocketshipMay 16, 2011 at 11:20 PM

    I'm not skeptical. The people we interact with most are likely to be like us -- so of course the people you, readers of this blog, know are probably reading more books than the rest of the population.

    This is horribly classist, but really: think about the people you run into every day. Your Walgreens cashier, your blue-collar neighbor. When do you think they last read a book?

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  11. AmyMay 17, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    I asked www.JenkinsGroupInc.com) for citations.

    :)

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  12. MinnesotastanMay 17, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    Thank you, Amy.

    :.)

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  13. UnknownMay 17, 2011 at 7:36 PM

    Cat Rocketship, that's very classist. When I was a grocery cashier I worked with a few people who read as a hobby...and one who writes. Oprah's book club, popular series, etc...people, including cashiers, probably read more than you'd expect.

    I "read" a lot, but read very little. Audiobooks. I have learning disabilities and a boring job, so they're perfect for me. Between a low reading speed and fatigue problems...actual reading is mostly a bathroom thing. I read books in there at a rate of maybe three a year, but I can get through half a dozen audiobooks a week. I wonder if people count them. My retention is better with them than actual reading.

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  14. AnonymousMay 18, 2011 at 5:00 PM

    I find these numbers totally credible. I know people who never read. They are ultra-passive and have news, entertainment and "facts" fed to them via television. It is tragic.

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  15. AnonymousMay 18, 2011 at 5:22 PM

    I work at a fortune 1000 company with about 1200 people in my building, and these stats didn't look even remotely off to me.

    Of the ~70 people in my department, five are avid readers (reading at least part of a book daily), 2 that I know of read books sometimes -- so let's be generous and say 20 read actual books -- 10 have scoffed at the book readers for being nerds, and the rest I never see with a book.

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  16. AnonymousMay 18, 2011 at 6:10 PM

    While the ability to read is critical, I don't find the reading of BOOKS to be so. Reading is enjoyable but like other uses of imagination (that I find readers to often look down upon - television, role playing games, cinema, etc.) it fools the mind. If you are learning something tangible, great. However, like most of my websurfing, I find that this idle imagination time is detrimental to my physical being and that my most precious commodity (time) is being poorly spent reliving someone elses adventures (many that were never real in the first place). Having said that, there are many who are locked to their station in life and only have things like the internets, game consoles, books, ham radio and so-on to help them escape... and for them it is a beautiful thing. - But I am still young and able and I want to fly with my own wings ...so before clots form in my legs - I'm going outside. Cheers

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