Book Burning for Literacy

A used bookstore owner in Kansas City is burning a few boxes worth of old books to draw attention to America's dropping reading rates.

Tom Wayne, the owner of Prospero's Books, says that the publishing industry only cares about profits, not the nation's overall readership, so Wayne is taking one form of telegenic (and bloggable) protest into his own hands.

According to Wayne:

In 1982, 57 % of Americans read at least ONE complete book a year, not school or work related.

In 2002, 46 % of Americans read at least one book.

Wayne figures that, at this rate, in another 10 years or so, only about a third of Americans will read a book a year.

You heard it here first.