Why Home Libraries Matter

Did you grow up with books at home? How many? One shelf of20 books? A whole room full of books, floor to ceiling?

Did you realize the number of books in your home library isan indicator of later academic success?

Having books at home is not a luxury. A home library shouldbe an essential part of every household. At BookGive, we believe everyone shouldhave as many books as they want. Not only that, we know how important havingbooks at home is for each family member and for the health of the entirecommunity.

A 2019 study published in Social Science Research looked atthe home library sizes of 31 different countries. Some, such as Norway and Sweden,had average home library sizes of over 200 books. Others – Chile and Singapore,for example – had around 50 books. Home libraries in Turkey averaged 27 books. TheUS showed up in the middle with 115 books in the typical home library.

A growing body of evidence shows that growing up with homelibraries boosts adult literacy, adult numeracy (math skills), and adult technologicalcompetence, with the greatest returns to the growth in smaller home libraries.In other words, adding just a few books to your home library can make a bigdifference.

Going from no books at home to some books at home. Going from some books to a few more. This is doable! That’s what we’re doing at BookGive all the time.

In this study, the researchers found that growing up withalmost no books was associated with literacy levels at about 50% below average.Having at least 80 books raised the literacy levels to average. Once a home libraryhits the 300 range, the literary gains are not significant, although we’d neverdiscourage folks from surrounding themselves with lots of books.

These findings are consistent with other research that showsthe direct link between books and improved academic-related skills such as vocabularybuilding, counterfactual thinking and cognitive flexibility.

What this study tells us is that its not just books, it’s having books at home, that makes a big difference. Establishing a home culture that encourages the engagement of books raises educational attainment. That’s why BookGive makes books available free, so everyone can have as many books – at HOME – as they want.

As a dedicated Denver book charity, BookGive’s mission is to fuel metro Denver with free books so that more and more of our neighbors can access the significant benefits of having a healthy home library.

Social Science Research 77 (2019) 1-15: Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies. Joanna Sikora, M.D.R. Evans, Jonathan Kelley