According to a national study, Washington D.C is America’s most literate city. It is followed by Seattle, Minneapolis, and Atlanta. Boston, once considered the hub of American literary culture, was only ranked 12th. The study looked at six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources. DC was 17th in bookstores by population, 15th in libraries, and seventh in education level. But we are first in newspaper circulation, magazines, and Internet resources. So every WSFAn who subscribes to a DC paper or magazine (or looks on the paper’s site online) or bought a book in D.C. contributed to the victory. However, all the measures have been in decline in recent years, especially book-buying and newspaper circulation, so a city with D.C.’s 2010 showing would have been rated at only seventh in 2004. In 2003 there were almost nine bookstores per 10,000 people nationwide, in 2010 just under six. The study was conducted by the Center for Public Policy and Social Research at Central Connecticut State University.
Click the link for the full text of the January 2011 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the December 3, 17 2010 meetings.
Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes