Put down the dictionary, nerd. We've got something you might find interesting: Portland is officially the seventh most literate city in the United States, according to a new survey from Central Connecticut State University.

Seventh feels low, right?

Dr. Jack Miller, who conducted the survey, said in a release Friday, "Being literate involves far more than being able to read. It involves actually reading."

"Do people in a city support bookstores," he continued, "do they have an excellent library system, do they read a local newspaper, do they practice online literacy, and so on."

In Portland, we are very involved in reading. Whether it's our impressive selection of bookstores, our library system that The Decemberist have been known to sing about, our multiple free weeklies available at bus stops or our truly tremendous, award-winning print and online newspaper (Lizzy Acker is on Twitter at @lizzzyacker), we deserve this distinction.

Of course, there is room for improvement. In first place is Washington, D.C., followed by Seattle, Minneapolis, Atlanta, San Francisco and then Pittsburgh.

So let's get together and make a real effort this year to be, if possible, more literate. Start a book club amongst your friends! Read aloud to your seatmate on the bus! Subscribe to your local newspaper!

But also, take a second to feel a little more smug than usual. New York City didn't even make this list.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker