You are currently viewing Most Americans want to read more books. We just don’t.

Most Americans want to read more books. We just don’t.

When we worry about the declining rates of literacy and a lack of reading skills, it’s often about children. But how often are adults reading these days? And what are we reading? A new NPR/Ipsos poll finds out.

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When was the last time you read a book?

According to a new NPR/Ipsos poll, reading is something a majority of Americans enjoy, and want to get better at. But it’s nowhere near a top priority.

The online survey, conducted in late February, heard from a representative sample of more than 2,000 American adults.

According to the poll, 82% of respondents think reading is a useful way to learn about the world, 76% say reading is relaxing and a whopping 98% of respondents with children in their household want their children to “develop a love of reading.”

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Reading is “certainly aspirational,” said Mallory Newall, vice president of Public Polling at Ipsos. “We certainly want to be a reading nation.” And yet 51% of people read a book in the past month, according to the poll. In comparison, about 80% of people watched streaming services, used social media or watched a short-form video.

Interestingly, respondents who classify themselves as readers are also more likely than non-readers to consume other forms of media. So it’s not necessarily a direct competition between, say, reading and scrolling on your