Webcasts Home
Browse:
- Biography, History
- Culture, Performing Arts
- Education
- Government
- Poetry, Literature
- Religion
- Science, Technology
More Audio, Video Resources at the Library
TITLE: To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence
SPEAKER: Sunil Iyengar
EVENT DATE: 05/08/2008
RUNNING TIME: 54 minutes
DESCRIPTION:
A 2007 research report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) about the state of reading in the United States reached three startling conclusions that are still being debated: Americans are spending less time reading; reading comprehension skills are eroding; and these declines have serious civic, social, cultural and economic implications.
Sunil Iyengar, director of the NEA Office of Research and Analysis that produced "To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence," discussed the report, its potential consequences and the public reaction.
In his preface, NEA chairman Dana Gioia describes the story told by "To Read or Not to Read," which he calls "the most complete and up-to-date report of the nation's reading trends," as simple, consistent and alarming. He cites declines in reading among teenage and adult Americans and among college graduates but emphasizes that these negative trends have more than literary importance--they affect civic society as a whole. He also explains that while it incorporates some statistics from the NEA's 2004 report, "Reading at Risk," the new study contains more data.
Speaker Biography: Sunil Iyengar also manages a national evaluation study for the NEA's The Big Read project. His office is responsible for the U.S. Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. Prior to joining NEA in 2006, he worked successively as a reporter, managing editor and senior editor for a series of news publications. He was a board member of the American Poetry and Literacy Project, co-founded by Andrew Carroll and Poet Laureate Joseph Brodsky.