I've been thinking about the sagging book shelves in my father's jerry-built office, just off the kitchen, and all the books my younger self discovered there. A lot of Twain, Dickens, R.L. Stevenson, and C.S. Forester--the kinds of books that can eventually turn a kid into an adventurer or an English major.
What set me reminiscing about my dad's rich library of second-hand books was a recently published research study, "Family Scholarly Culture and Educational Success: Books and Schooling in 27 Nations" (Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2010). You'll find a summary of the results at ScienceDaily:
Whether rich or poor, residents of the United States or China, illiterate or college graduates, parents who have books in the home increase the level of education their children will attain, according to a 20-year study led by Mariah Evans, University of Nevada, Reno associate professor of sociology and resource economics.
For years, educators have thought the strongest predictor of attaining high levels of education was having parents who were highly educated. But, strikingly, this massive study showed that the difference between being raised in a bookless home compared to being raised in a home with a 500-book library has as great an effect on the level of education a child will attain as having parents who are barely literate (3 years of education) compared to having parents who have a university education (15 or 16 years of education). Both factors, having a 500-book library or having university-educated parents, propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average. . . .
Evans said, "Even a little bit goes a long way," in terms of the number of books in a home. Having as few as 20 books in the home still has a significant impact on propelling a child to a higher level of education, and the more books you add, the greater the benefit.
("Books in Home as Important as Parents' Education in Determining Children's Education Level." ScienceDaily, May 21, 2010)
My dad never made it beyond Andrew Jackson High School, but the books he lovingly collected set me on a course that led to grad school and a career teaching English. So I'm not surprised by the results of the study.
But I wonder about what lies ahead--after the bookcases have been dismantled to make room for wall-sized LCD panels and all the books have been replaced by Kindles and iPads.
Sure, every book you can imagine will be available for download (along with every movie, TV program, and video game). But without the physical presence of books in the house, will kids experience the same sense of discovery and adventure? More importantly, will they still feel at home with books?
To share your thoughts on the future of reading and the value of books in the home, click on the comments button below.
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I’ve just discovered your website – it’s an absolute marvel, thank you for all this wonderful information.
On your latest posting about books in the home, I think you’re spot on. When I was growing up, the physical presence and tangibility of books were crucially important; I used to spend hours reorganising them according to how I was feeling about the world that day! Each separate book contained its own separate world, the more books I had, the more possibilities opened up to me. I hope I’m wrong but I fear that having them all compressed into one single gadget will never be as stimulating to the imagination as having them in quantity.
Best wishes
I’m 14 and I LOVE my Kindle but it was my Mom’s books that turned me into a reader. I’d probably be watching reruns of Jersey Shore now instead of reading if she hadn’t stuffed every nook and cranny of our house with books.
“…without the physical presence of books in the house, will kids experience the same sense of discovery and adventure? More importantly, will they still feel at home with books?”
I’ve had the same questions running through my mind. I think I’ll get some more book shelves! Free downloads of classics are economical, but they just aren’t the same. You miss out on the full sensory experience of the feel, sight, and smell of books. Even the sound of a page turning has its own charm.
Whether the physical existence of books in a house is essential to development of reading habits is a part that I have not been able to form a firm opinion about, especially in the case of under privileged children, so I am going to refrain from commenting on that aspect of the discussion. In case of the electronic devices though, the problem lies in the possibilities that devices like iPad, the full fledged computing devices, open up, in the process making it difficult to exercise control over the activity session. Because of this reason, the Kindle remains the perfect reading device for children and adults alike, as children, who can easily be distracted by the presence of all the applications on the full fledged computing devices, do not have access to any thing other than the books, hence the device makes it easier to maintain a focused reading environment. In case of Kindle, it is down to the concept that the device is going to serve as a single purpose device, with reading being the purpose, and steadfast adherence to that concept that have allowed it to remain a device that makes it much easier to maintain focus by providing an environment that most probably does not offer any distractions. What I would like to add is that I still do not own a Kindle and the opinion is based entirely on the information that I have gathered so far, so the possibility definitely exists that the comment may be a bit off the target here; I would be hoping that it is not.
In case of the grown-ups who are supposed to be a bit more aware regarding their preferences, what I would like to add is that I have been using a computer as a reading device for more than a decade, and I have done more reading using a computer than I had done before when I only had access to paper books. The connectivity, the ease of access to material, the ease with which one can search material, all of these features make computer a far superior medium for reading than paper books.
These is a tactile, active quality to reading a book that hand-held devices can’t duplicate. These devices are passive. They also make it more difficult for people to share the experience which, it seems, is an integral part of engaging young people in reading. The presence of the books matters in this regard as well.
This said, I think these devices have value to older readers who want to gain access to more titles. One can still buy a hard copy if one chooses.
Like anything else, it makes a difference to learn the basics first.
My childhood home wasn’t filled with books, but there were enough for me to develop a passion for reading. I was probably the only kid in town who rode his bike to the library to get books. I majored in English and crammed my house full of books and my son is a devoted reader who managed to score an 800 for reading on his SAT, twice. He is majoring Electrical Engineering, so reading doesn’t just develop English majors. Reading books makes a person smarter. I am fully convinced.
I believe that reading is something that is experienced with more than just the sense of sight. It’s also the feel of a book and its pages; the smell of the paper, and the sound of the pages rustling in the wind if you’re reading outside. Also when I go back and reread an old friend, seeing my notes in the margins can bring back many memories about when I last read it.
My favorite bookstore growing up was an old place filled with many secondhand books and I will always remember the smell of the place.
Kindles, iPads and reading devices – like my smart phone – fill a niche and may even encourage otherwise uninterested readers to dive in. Reading, in any form, is still reading. BUT, a wise parent will also fill the house with books. Holding that tangible poundage of bound paper between fingers, then quickly page-turning to read ahead, is a sensory experience known only to those who actually pick up and peruse books. I think it makes the brain synapse in a unique way. Luckily, I’ve found a budget book store in town, which means I can stock up and my daughter can trade in her used books for more used books. She’s as hungry a reader as I was, and I credit my mother for her huge collection of all sorts of books which kept me busy throughout my adolescence. Perhaps it’s a generational thing? Readers produce readers? As an English teacher, I keep books in my classroom even though they are often stolen. That’s the point! I hope some sticky-fingered student will read a book, get hooked, and start buidling their own library.
For those of us who grew up with the joy of reading books in print, it may be difficult to understand how children reading books online can have the same compelling experience we did. But let me assure you that the possibilities opened up by devices like the iPad give our children every reason to read. What’s required is good parental models.
I learned to treasure books because my mother did. She read to me every night, took me to the library and encouraged my reading by her loving approval. The same model works for children today – just substitute the iPad. And there is a world of information available through the iPad that was a chore to find before. Don’t know what a word means – a definition is instantly available. Reading a science fiction book and are curious about how the planets move – there is an app that shows you in a vivid simulation. Remember sneaking a book to bed and reading under the covers with a flashlight? With an iPad, you don’t need the flashlight.
We shouldn’t be worried about whether children will learn to love reading, we should be focused on how to use the new tools in the most engaging and enlightening way. Books have always been about the love of learning and seeing things from a new perspective. All that is available through devices like the iPad. Before we were limited to the books on hand. No more. Now the horizon is unlimited.
You preface the article with “A recent study shows that the number of books in a home has a significant effect on the level of education a child will attain.” In the book Freakonomics as well as in other studies, the relationship between educational level and number of books in the house has never been proven to be cause-and-effect. Both variables are, however, positively associated with the level of wealth the family enjoys — the wealthier the family, the more likely that they have more books and that their children attain a higher level and better education. I know – not a particularly romantic way of looking at books…
How odd that greg n would rely on pop economics as a guide and simply ignore the extensive study that’s quoted (and linked to) in the article. Not a particularly thoughtful way of examining the issues.
Though I have always had numerous, and I mean numerous, bookshelves about to explode all over my home, my only son never got the bug for reading. I couldn’t even entice him with the ‘Mr. Underpants’ series.
In the end, then, my enthusiasm for all things literary did nothing for him. I read to him in-utero, through his childhood-all to no avail.
Perhaps he rebelled against my attitude, poor kid, the worlds he’s missed!
I remember watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and seeing how Capt. Picard enjoyed reading his old books rather than read on a computer or some other device. Books will be loved by people who loved books.
The advent of electronic books has changed the face of how we read, but the experience of savoring someone else’s words in our own minds remains the same. Our children are growing up in a world very different from that of our childhood, and their experiences will be no less meaningful than ours simply because of being different. I can’t imagine gathering my children around my Nook to read a story, but perhaps when I have grandchildren, that will be the norm.
What I see changing for readers in the age of e-books is that they won’t be passed around as much. Ultimately, I think writers will make more money from ebook sales because lending of ebooks is limited to just a couple of times, and some publishers are planning to limit the number of times a library can loan an ebook before having to repurchase the rights to it. So, no shabby little beat-up paperbacks making the rounds among family and friends, where one physical book is read by many people, fewer retired library copies for sale at used bookstores, and no dated, personal inscriptions that give a book personal meaning for future generations. On the other hand, instant access to brand-new must-read bestsellers when the impulse strikes, along with ready access to the tools that add meaning and layer to our reading, the afore-mentioned scientific sites or dictionaries or other reference books or related tomes.
It’s a trade-off, but we’re lucky, because we truly can have it all. I can have 600 books at my fingertips when I want something to read at the beach or on a plane, and when I’m curled up on my own sofa with a hot drink to sip on, I can immerse myself in the smell of crisp new pages and fresh ink as I hold a traditional book in my hands.
I’ve always loved the fresh smell of books and the touch of the page on my fingertips as I move forward into the story. Although I want to help this environment, kindles and ipads can never replace the beauty of a good book. Whether this spurs children into learning or just gives you that homey feel of curling up by the fire on a rainy day, I hope I never through the day in which books are extinct.
I grew up in a modest middle-class home with well-stuffed bookshelves and parents who read (they even joined Great Books). I became and remain a print glutton. But now I’m old enough to start downsizing, and I find I have thousands more books than I know what to do with.
As to the books I want to keep, few of them seem available as e-books.