KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Do you read for pleasure?

There. A free job interview question for employers who say they can't find good help.

Or for managers who say too many questions they want to ask applicants are prohibited by anti-discrimination rules.

Ask job hunters if they have a library card. Ask what book they're reading now.

Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, gave me that idea when he spoke to a group of business and philanthropy leaders in Kansas City.

People who read, Gioia said, are more likely to be patrons of the arts and other community efforts. They're more likely to volunteer. They're more likely to know things beyond their specialized career field.

And they're more likely to have the knowledge and the communication skills needed in most workplaces.

At an event organized by the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City and Commerce Bank, Gioia told a stark truth:

"Thirty-two percent of kids drop out of high school in the United States. As business leaders, you inherit that. People come to you for jobs who don't have a basic level of skills."

The nation, he said, is suffering from 25 to 30 years of budget cuts by local school districts, which decimated arts education in the high schools. In some communities, only the children of wealthy parents who can afford private lessons are being exposed to music and other fine arts, he said.

That could mean fewer artists, fewer musicians, fewer authors will discover their creative muses. But equally important to the nation is that "we are not producing the next generation of audiences and arts patrons."

Nor the next generation of good workers. Nor the next generation of good citizens in a democracy.

So ask those job applicants if they read.

"The key is reading for pleasure," Gioia said. "A person who reads is more likely to engage in every form of civic behavior we can measure."

Reading exposes people to larger worlds than their own. It sparks imagination.

"It allows people to feel what it's like to live someone else's life," Gioia said. "It creates compassion and understanding that we're all in this together."

That's reason enough to aim for a workplace full of readers. There's more.

"Reading requires focused, linear attention — the ability not to be distracted," he said. "Reading teaches information, syntax, vocabulary. ... It nourishes curiosity and rewards intellect."

Employer surveys often rank lack of communication skills, written and oral, as the biggest work force problem. They say their employees can't follow directions, can't write a memo, can't express themselves well.

U.S. businesses spend from $2 billion to $5 billion a year on remedial training in the three Rs to bring workers up to skill levels they need, Gioia said.

As head of the government agency, Gioia is pushing to fund arts education "town by town across the country.

"Without arts and patrons, we won't have thriving education centers or communities. We won't have urban centers people want to move to," he warned.

We won't have a good work force.

We're consistently told that U.S. global competitiveness depends on innovation and creativity.

Unfortunately, an estimated 30 million to 40 million members of post-baby boom generations have been victims of a "systematic dismantling" of arts education in high schools, Gioia said, calling it a national tragedy.

Reversing the decline in arts exposure and reading requires action beyond school boards and federal or philanthropic grants.

The media, Gioia noted, also must spend less time on the likes of Paris Hilton and far more on art, science, civics and all the other facets of an intelligent, involved and interconnected world.

Diane Stafford is the workplace and careers columnist at The Kansas City Star and the author of "Your Job: Getting It, Keeping It, Improving It, Changing It," a career advice book. She can be reached at staffordkcstar.com.