The New York Times book review section on Sunday has been steadily shrinking in size. This is sad, but it isn’t news. We’ve all watched it go from 60-70 pages to about 28 pages now – which is still better than the Washington Post and St Petersburg Times, which has gotten rid of their stand alone book reviews altogether.

One hates to criticize one of the last major venues for book reviews able to reach people not already subscribed to a literary magazine. But I feel I must speak up.

New York Times, where is the poetry?

They used to consistently review a book of poetry every week. No, they were not digging deeply into the catalog, but at least they would review collections from publishers like Copper Canyon.

Then I noticed that sometimes they would review a book of essays by a poet or a biography of a poet and seemed to feel that this “counted” as their contribution to the support of poetry. In recent weeks, they seem to have ceased writing about any poetry or poets.

A stand alone book review section is not a moneymaker for the paper. If they are keeping it, it is as a sort of public service. In which case, commit to public service! Commit to supporting the culture and the better angels of our literacy. Cultural projects that do not demand more of those that consume it, that does not challenge us, is doomed to wither away. A struggling theater will not excite the public with a revival of a tired musical from the middle of the last century or the latest musical mash-up of Puccini’s greatest hits, remixed to faux rock music, as much as by putting on an exciting and truly innovative new work.

Similarly, book reviews will not become relevant and important parts of the national discourse by limiting themselves to dusting off Ken Follett’s latest overblown and overwritten doorstopper not by praising popular mediocrities for their most recently bound collection of clunky phrasings.

Americans should read more poetry. It would expand their minds and challenge them to think in new ways. It would make them into more well rounded human beings. Plus, reading poetry is not so chore – it is a joy, even when it is challenging.

The New York Times (and, in truth, all publications) should take this as their goal. It will make them better papers and do more to ensure their continued relevance than a dozen attempts to embrace so-called “popular” culture.