The National Endowment for the Arts (N.E.A.) has published a report this month on reading in the United States, titled To Read Or Not To Read. The full report is available online: download as PDF. I strongly recommend reading the Chairman’s Preface (pages 5-6); the Executive Summary is also worthwhile (pages 7-22). The report contains many statistics from which these conclusions are drawn:

• Americans are spending less time reading.
• Reading comprehension skills in America are eroding.

For example, more than two-thirds of college seniors read for pleasure less than one hour a week (9). Average household spending on books has dropped 14% from 1985-2005 (11). Reading proficiency has also dropped: as of 2005, only 35% of high school seniors and only 31% of adults who graduated from college read at a proficient level — both statistics have fallen from 40% in 1992.

This decline in reading has an obvious impact on reading comprehension, but it affects much more than that:

Reading has cognitive consequences that extend beyond its immediate task of lifting meaning from a particular passage. Accumulated over time these consequences carry profound implications for the development of a wide range of cognitive capabilities (68).

Reading requires effort to extract meaning from a text. This effort strengthens the mind, improves critical thinking, and enhances overall intellectual development — in much the same way that exercise builds physical strength and endurance. The report also shows that people who read for pleasure are more likely to engage in positive personal and social behaviors: visiting museums, voting, getting rewarding jobs, volunteering, and participating in sports or other outdoor activities.

One particular statement stands out to me as an excellent summary of the report:

The cold statistics confirm something that most readers know — books change lives for the better (6).

As a passionate reader, I could not agree more.