The Value of Books

“We find that books in the home have a positive payoff in improved test scores throughout the world.  The relationship is strong, clear, and statistically significant in every one of the 42 nations (we studied).  They enhance the academic performance of children from families at all educational and occupation levels, but the enhancement is greater for families with little education and low-status occupations.” 

These are the findings of a research team led by University of Nevada-Reno sociologist Mariah Evans.  The research team examined data from the Program for International Student Assessment, a project of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as reported on the Pacific Standard website.

The results were unambiguous:  “Regardless of how many books the family already has, each addition to the home library helps children do better (on the standard test),” Evans and her colleagues report.  "This held true even after parents’ occupations and education level and family wealth were taken into account.  What’s more, the effect was consistently found in both rich and poor nations; in countries with economic systems that lead toward capitalism and socialism; and in Asia, as well as Europe and the Americas."

“A home with books as an integral part of the way of life encourages children to read for pleasure and encourages discussion among family members about what they have read,” Evans and her colleagues write, “thereby providing children with information, vocabulary, imaginative richness, wide horizons, and skills for discovery and play.”

Contributed by Zvia Dover

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