Minneapolis ranked most literate city

For the first time in six years, Minneapolis is again the most literate city in the country.

A study from Central Connecticut State University found that Minneapolis had the most accessible literary resources for its population in 2014. St. Paul landed at No. 4.

The study measures six factors including Internet resources, newspaper circulation and periodical publishing resources against a city's population to create its list each year.

Minneapolis has trailed Seattle and Washington D.C. each year since 2008, when Minneapolis last topped the list.

Technology is becoming more important to the study, which has been conducted each year since 2003, the university's president Jack Miller said in a news release. Newspapers and bookstores are changing the way they do business, he said, which is affecting the way Americans consume literature.

Miller also noted that the cities' rankings don't change much from year to year — Minneapolis, Seattle and D.C. have always been in the top three — because the factors measured in the study can't be quickly adjusted.

Adding to the Twin Cities' literati quotient this week is the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, which is hosting the largest literary conference in North America at the Minneapolis Convention Center through Saturday.

The conference's approximately 13,000 attendees, which include top-tier writers, are expected to add about $28 million to the local economy, tourism officials say.

Anne Millerbernd is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune. Anne Millerbernd • 651-308-7126