Reading at Risk

Reading at Risk presents the results from the literature segment of a large-scale survey, the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted by the Census Bureau at the request of the National Endowment for the Arts. This survey investigated the percentage and number of adults, age 18 and over, who attended artistic performances, visited museums, watched broadcasts of arts programs, or read literature. The survey sample numbered more than 17,000 individuals, which makes it one of the most comprehensive polls of art and literature consumption ever conducted. The book establishes trends in the number of adults reading, listening to, and writing literature by demographic categories of age, race, region, income, and education. This book also compares participation in literary activities with other leisure activities, such as watching movies and exercising. Reading at Risk provides an invaluable snapshot of the role of literature in the lives of Americans.