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FACTOIDS ON LITERACY

 

 

  1. The presence of retail book stores is positively associated with quality of libraries. So, it is not a question of whether people buy books or check them out: they do both or neither.

  1. Newspaper circulation variables correlate with nothing other than themselves. There is virtually no relationship between number of papers circulated per person and any of the other literacy factors including reading a newspaper on the internet.

  1. The number of public library staff per capita, number of retail bookstores per capita, and magazines published per capita are significantly related to more other literary factors than any of the other variables.

  1. There are strong relationships between three of the four internet literacy variables including wireless internet access, purchasing books on the internet, and reading newspapers on the internet, but availability of wireless terminals in public libraries is not related to any of these three variables.   

  1. While educational attainment variables are related to most of the other variables, six of the top ten cities for overall literacy were not even in the top 20 for the combined educational attainment levels.  These cities were Washington, DC, Atlanta, San Francisco, Denver, Boston, and Cincinnati.   

  1. Of all the cities in the top ten for overall literacy only two, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, are low on the internet literacy variables and they are both below the median.  

  1. Two cities were greatly advantaged by the addition of internet literacy variables this year.  Austin, TX was 16 overall but 3rd on internet literacy while San Jose, CA was 51st overall but 8th on internet literacy.  Respectively they moved up from 22nd and 62nd the previous year when internet literacy was not a factor.      

  1. Some cities with a single anomalous score include those being much higher than would be expected based on their overall scores for one specific thing were Albuquerque, on retail book stores, Arlington, on education level, Toledo, on library quality and Newark, on newspaper circulation, unusually low scores include Kansas City, Missouri for retail book stores, Raleigh, North Carolina for library quality, and Columbus, Ohio for newspaper circulation. 

  1. Cities which moved up the most from last year, not as a result of oddities in scoring (e.g., sharing a metropolitan statistical area with a much higher rated city) are Atlanta, Toledo, New York City, and Newark. 

  1.  Moving the total population threshold for inclusion to 250,000 eliminated 17 small cities included last year, but increases in population added seven new cities.