Washington, DC is the most well-read US city for 2010.
Run by Central Connecticut State University, the study which produced the ranking uses six key indicators: Newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, education levels and the Internet. In essence, urban populations are compared on their literary supply and willingness to take advantage.
The bad news: US cities are reading less.
According to USA Today, if DC’s 2010 statistics were applied to 2004, our capital would rank seventh, not first, against competitors. Are we relying on the convenience of Facebook, Twitter, and various daily email digests for our reading? Must be. DC reportedly won this year thanks to troubles in Seattle and Minneapolis, which have been shutting down newspapers and neglecting their independent bookstores.
At least the trend seems to show that, in the midst of a transnational literary downfall, DC is holding steady.
It could be all the “gentrifying” action going on in places like U Street, Columbia Heights, and especially the H Street/Atlas district. In the absence of street lights or cabs, the latter still manages to attract a yuppie crowd for dinner at Granville Moore’s and Sticky Rice. More neighborhoods where people are willing to spend time generate more profitable real estate for hosting bookstores.
Or is it our revitalized foodie scene? Are the endless Obama date nights finally paying off, to redeem themselves for clogging our capital’s automotive arteries? Reading makes one hungry, and sipping on a London Fog tea latte while reading a good book brings the immediate sensation that one is somewhere in Paris – which accounts for the latest trend of bookstores inside restaurants, and vice versa.
Whatever the reason – here’s a nod to some of my favorite DC read/write spots:
- Kramer’s: Part restaurant, part bar, part bookstore, this place has it all. You can’t walk inside and not walk out with a bag of books, many of which are given the short end of the advertising stick in the more generic Borders or Barnes & Noble. Don’t forget the spiked coffee opportunities and late hours in winter.
- Politics & Prose: Despite the recent death of one of its founders, P&P is going strong. Bookstore members get a discount, and weekly emails will fill your schedule with amazing events P&P holds with some of today’s most famous authors. Incidentally, they serve an amazing vegan London Fog downstairs.
- Second Story Books: On a crisp sunny morning, visit Le Pain Quotidien (2000 Massachusetts Avenue) for a Belgian hot chocolate and skip across the road to rummage through outdoor stacks of old, new, and rare books. Items bordering on the antique, including posters and atlases from the 1930s, can be found inside.
- The Georgetown Library: Recently re-opened at its old location and rehabilitated from a devastating fire a few years ago, this place combines charisma with efficiency, and also manages a decent events line-up.
Just remember – patronage ensures that these places don’t go the way of Candida’s World, an amazing independent travel bookstore which recently had to close.
