Reading at Risk presents the results from the literature segment of a large-scale survey, the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted by the Census Bureau in 2002 at the request of the National Endowment for the Arts. This survey investigated the percentage and number of adults, age 18 and over, who attended artistic performances, visited museums, watched broadcasts of arts programs, or read literature. The survey sample numbered more than 17,000 individuals, which makes it one of the most comprehensive polls of art and literature consumption ever conducted. Reading at Risk extrapolates and interprets data on literary reading and compares them with results from similar surveys carried out in 1982 and 1992. The survey asked respondents if, during the previous 12 months, they had read any novels, short stories, plays, or poetry in their leisure time (not for work or school). The report establishes trends in the number of adults reading, listening to, and writing literature by demographic categories of age, race, region, income, and education. This report also compares participation in literary activities with other leisure activities, such as watching movies and exercising. Ten key finding were found and are presented in this document. Appended are: (1) Survey of Public Participation in the Arts Background and Methodology; (2) Data Collection; and (3) an overview of two statistical models that were created in preparing this monograph. (Contains 28 tables and 8 figures.)