Illiteracy on the Increase:

Newspaper circulation continues to fall in the United States according to new numbers released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The late edition of The New York Times, released online, reports on the falling trend in paid circulations of newspapers around the country. Naturally, the Web is being blamed, but the truth is that literacy is falling as well. Fewer people are willing to read and much of the country has difficulty reading newspapers, which are written at the seventh grade reading level.

While the business model of selling paper newspapers may be a failing one, the harder truth is that fewer people are capable of being able to decipher sentences that thirty years ago the average twelve-year-old could easily understand.

Irish Eyes Are Smiling:

Thomas Cahill points out the contribution to literacy that our Irish forefathers made in today's New York Times. The Irish, it seems, provided the shining emerald light that kept western literature from destruction, and they added their sense of humor into the mix while doing so.

Literacy:

Verlyn Klinkenborg addresses the value of reading aloud in today's New York Times. The article is well worth reading by anyone interested in education, whether teachers and administrators or parents. In fact, it is more important that parents read and consider Klinkenborg's argument. School officials at any level will do little without being pressured into it by parents and government.

The practice of reading aloud along with being read to, not only in childhood but throughout adulthood has been demonstrated to enhance literacy anectdotally, but no long term studies exist. Some group should be envolved in such a study, which should cover at least a thirty-year period and envolve a large test group over a significant educational and economic base.

What's Wrong with California?

The Republican governor of California can't get just three members of his own party to go along with him to keep the state government functioning. Shortly, Gov. Schwarzenegger will likely be forced to layoff some 200,000 state employees, while public works of all sorts will stand idle at a time when the national crisis appears to whirl around the need not simply to keep people working but to create more jobs for them to do.

Gail Collins points out in today's New York Times just how petty things can be in the state that proved itself the biggest dupes in the Enron scandal a few years back. State Senator Abel Maldonado—a super rich broccoli farmer (read that as a guy who got super rich off the sweat of ultra cheap farm labor)—wants to be state controller. He really hates the current controller and will do whatever is in his power to prevent him from redecorating his office. (I told you it would be unbelievably petty.) Thus he'll stop any spending bill within his means to do so.

Evidently, state election laws need to be changed if Maldonado is to run for controller, and he's currently "holding out" for changes to be made in the election laws. As far as Maldonado is concerned, the state can go bankrupt if he doesn't become controller. It's just this sort that has infected state governments around the country. Don't fool yourself into believing in the few bad apples theory or that the right sort of system could prevent this behavior. Only vigilance and the proper laws can limit the lust for power.

In Economic News:

More than 6.5 million Americans are now receiving unemployment compensation, as the jobless rate continues to climb (See the NPR story). The good news is that the stimulus package passed, but now the question becomes how long will it take and to what degree will it be effective.

The Decline of Literacy:

The news recently has focused on the delivery of the news, including the loss of the book review sections in newspapers. Dick Meyer addresses the issue at NPR today, arguing that along with the decline of newspapers will come a decline in reading of books and ultimately a decline in overall literacy.

Unfortunately, this decline has been going on for some thirty years now, and is part of the explanation of how we've gotten into our current mess. President Obama is right in asserting that, if we ever to pull ourselves out of our economic whirlpool, we must focus on education. But it isn't just the schools that need our attention. The first function of newspapers is to educate readers.

Some will argue that C-SPAN2's Book TV has taken the place of the book review sections in newspapers, but viewers will note that Book TV primarily devotes its time to "non-fiction" works with a heavy emphasis on the political and its nonstop stream of right-wing propaganda from publishers devoted to this pet project. Others will note that Oprah, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and Charlie Rose all provide venues for the promotion of book sales, and this is true, but they hardly provide significant literary commentary, other than perhaps Charlie Rose, that is likely to enhance literacy.

And the Good News Is:

Annie Gowen reports on D. C. area libraries and their increased use in today's Washington Post. It seems that use has climbed dramatically during the drastic economic downturn. The free Internet use accounts for part of the change. Job seekers want the opportunity to make use of the service. But free books and DVDs are also appealing. Perhaps there is a silver lining here. We have to wonder if the phenomena is occurring in other places around the country. Unfortunately, library services are often among the first cut during hard economic times.

Reading on the Rise—Another Sign of the Failed Economy?

What would Laura Bush say? The First Lady, a former librarian, hasn't been asked what she thinks is the cause of the recently reported increase in the literary reading habits of American adults, at least not by the press. Notoriously, the reading rates of Americans dropped below 50 percent during her husband's tenure in the White House, reflecting his critics' representation of him as the epitome of the dumbing down of America. (See Motoko Rich's New York Times story. The story ends with this quote: "As the economy has soured, Mr. Rettig [president of the American Library Association] said, 'people are discovering that you don't have to spend anything to read a book if you have a library card.'")

The Economy under Bush II:

Neil Irwin and Dan Eggen present the numbers in today's Washington Post, reporting on the failure of economic policy during George W. Bush's eight years in office. "Worst since" becomes a dominant phrase.

Beating a Dead Horse:

Harry Mount, writing in today's Op-Ed pages of The New York Times, not only wants us to learn a foreign language in the good ol' U. S. of A., but a dead one at that—Latin. Mount argues that the study of the language of empire will improve both our minds and our ability to communicate. Imagine that? Haven't we been getting along just fine without resorting to either?

Speaking as someone who has studied a little Latin and less Greek, along with a smidgen of Spanish and GI German, I can testify to the fact that studying any language, including the one I naturally speak by the grace of the Creator, won't do a thing to improve one's mind or the ability to clarify the workings thereof. Just ask my kids. They'll be happy to inform you.

But then you already knew that, didn't you.

Yes, Deary, Once Upon A Time People Actually Read Books:

Fewer and fewer people read literature for fun, and they seem less capable of critical thinking. If we knew why people who do read do what they do, we might be able to encourage others to follow suit. MOTOKO RICH addresses the issue in a recent New York Times piece, "A Good Mystery, Why We Read." Rich doesn't have a concrete answer for this. It seems the reasons people read are as varied as there are readers.

One thing does seem to be clear: If you have a culture of readers—people who value reading and express this value by doing so and encourage others to do so as well—more people will read. But not everyone. That's just not going to happen.

So how many books did your parents have in your home?