Why are home libraries important for every child?

Posted on August 23, 2012 by My Imagination Kingdom | 0 comments
In a study conducted amongst 73,000 people over 27 nations, researchers found that growing up in a home with 500 books would propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average, than would growing up in a similar home with few, or no books. M.D.R Evans, a sociologist from the University of Nevada who led the study, adds, A child from a family rich in books is 19 percentage points more likely to complete university than a comparable child growing up without a home library.” And these results are true even adjusting for parents’ education, father’s occupational status and other family background characteristics. 
Credit: New York Times, Idea of The Day, April 20th, 2010 

And we wonder why parents spend so much money putting their children through hours and hours of tuition! Having a home library gives children an opportunity to re-read stories that they love and also serves as a form of inspiration to them during their years of growing up. The same study above also states that, "regardless of how many books the family already has, each addition to a home library helps the children get a little farther in school". So the adage that every little bit counts is true, even when it comes to building a home library.

 

But not only does the home library help a child in his or her education, it is also a very strong vote of affirmation from parents that reading and books is a big part in your family life. It is merely putting words into action. If you've always been telling your child that reading and books are important, having a home library should be the natural step to demonstrating what you preach. 

 

"We're already going to the library regularly, do we still need a home library?"

And the answer is a resounding "Yes". Making regular trips to the library should not negate the need to build a home library and vice versa. Just because you have built a home library at home, bringing your child to the public library is still important to helping him or her explore new books and interests. As we can see in the study above, building a home library is about creating the right environment for your child through which they can grow up in. So it isn't merely about exposing your child to books (which can be done by simply going to the public library) but giving them the opportunity to immerse themselves in a "book environment" where reading becomes an any time-any moment affair. 

 

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