We usually hear about these declines in isolation. But taken together, they seem to suggest that cultural pursuits across the board are on the decline. Indeed, if nobody seems out buying books, movies and music, what are they doing with their leisure time instead?
Apparently: going to the library.
About 140 million people in the U.S. will attend a major-league sporting event this year, according to this NPR article. But as the same article says, museums will draw about 850 million attendees this year. So why do more people make trips to museums than to sports games? Well, they are obviously cheaper, and more abundant, but it may also . . .
I happen to be a member of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. (My son, like nearly every 5-year-old boy I know, is a dinosaur freak.) I just received an e-mail asking for feedback on a script for the AMNH’s new space show. I guess this is what life is like for museums after the Enola Gay/Smithsonian . . .