Are Readers Disappearing?

Dear Reader,

I've seen some disturbing headlines that people are not reading books anymore, including anecdotes about young people being asked why they're reading a book if not assigned by a school to read it. Naturally, as an author, this is a little concerning. But is it accurate?

The 2025 American Time Use Survey shows that the number of people reading for pleasure dropped from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023. A 2022 Gallup poll indicated the average number of books read fell from 15.6 in 2016 to 12.6 in 2022. That's a 19% drop in only 6 years.

OK, how about some positive news? Pew Research says that the number of Americans who say they read at least one book (or part of one) in the past 12 months is holding steady at 75%. Most of that represents physical books, but e-books are growing.

Book sales are also pretty steady, following a peak of 783M units/year during the pandemic, according to Publishers' Weekly.

So what's my conclusion? People in general are reading less, but interest in reading for pleasure is holding steady. People may not be reading as much as they used to, but they are buying as many books as they did.

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Happy Reading!

Rick A. Allen

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