Growing Up Surrounded by Books Could Have Powerful, Lasting Effect on the Mind

[Judi Lynn]

A new study suggests that exposure to large home libraries may have a long-term impact on proficiency in three key areas

By Brigit Katz
smithsonian.com
October 12, 2018

Research has already suggested that opening a book may help improve brain function, reduce stress, and even make us more empathetic. Now, a team led by Joanna Sikora of the Australian National University is looking into the benefits of growing up around a book-filled environment; as Alison Flood of the Guardian reports, the researchers’ expansive new study suggests that homes with ample libraries can arm children with skills that persist into adulthood.

The study, published recently in Social Science Research, assessed data from 160,000 adults from 31 countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Turkey, Japan and Chile. Participants filled out surveys with the Programme for the International Assessment of Competencies, which measures proficiency in three categories: literacy, numeracy (using mathematical concepts in everyday life) and information communication technology, (using digital technology to communicate with other people, and to gather and analyze information).

Respondents, who ranged in age from 25 to 65, were asked to estimate how many books were in their house when they were 16 years old. The research team was interested in this question because home library size can be a good indicator of what the study authors term “book-oriented socialization.” Participants were able to select from a given range of books that included everything from “10 or less” to “more than 500.”

The surveys, which were taken between 2011 and 2015, showed that the average number of books in participants’ childhood homes was 115, but that number varied widely from country to country. The average library size in Norway was 212 books, for instance; in Turkey, it was 27. Across the board, however, it seemed that more books in the home was linked to higher proficiency in the areas tested by the survey.

Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/growing-surrounded-books-may-bolster-skills-later-life-180970523/#p87MUfgieUp4PjgQ.99

[Midnight Writer]

1. Growing up in the Fifties, our very poor family had a set of Childcraft books.

Now in our seventies, all seven of us still have vivid memories of the stories and pictures from those books.

Also, every one of us grew up to do better financially than our parents. Much better.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for sacrificing our scarce resources to give us kids a shot at a better life.

[dweller]

2. it would seem having access to libraries in general would count as much

whether in schools or public
there were always books in my house growing up, but I also had free rein to libraries and still do ... I also have upwards of I estimate 500+ books in my house... yes I'm a book rat

[murielm99]

3. I hope so.

We have a large library in our home. One room has floor to ceiling bookshelves on one long wall. The area surrounding the picture window is all shelves, too. We read a lot with our children and we read to them.

They grew up in the library where I worked. I think it has made a difference.

[angstlessk]

4. I used to buy 6 lemons each Friday night to begin my weekend with books

I read 'Valley of the Dolls' in one setting, while eating lemons, and the rinds.

My father had a vast selection of paper back books, many of which were pornographic...

I discovered that Arabs liked boys under the table?

I discovered women didn't breath they thrust their breasts..

It was a wonderful summer! An educational (even if wrong) summer!

I think it was the summer after I was 12 or 13?

[fairfaxvadem]

5. I believe that...

My parents could be assholes on many things, but they ran a censor-free house and we had tons of books plus the library card. We learned early if we were reading, all good. They never asked. As long as we had our nose in a book, the rents stayed off our case. Go figure. And we read everything from Asimov to Barbra Cartland.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Long time ago, I rented a bedroom in a house in an affluent town in NJ.

The house had NO books whatsoever in any room. Not even a Bible or a phonebook. And the landlady and her children were complete dolts. Thought and talked like people who never picked up a book.

[3catwoman3]

7. On one of our moves, we had...

...50 boxes of books. I find it very hard to give away a book I have enjoyed. I am a re-reader of books that I have especially loved. I am not a speed reader, but do read somewhat quickly, so will often get through a book to find out how it ends, and then read it again to savor all the details I may have missed.

My dream would be to have a personal library room, with floor to ceiling books, with shelves tall enough to justify having those library ladders.

[Javaman]

8. I was lucky to grow up in a house were everyone loved to read.

we had a ton of books. All kinds of stuff.

as an adult, I still read every day. but since I don't have kids and my GF and I have a tiny house, we sell or give away our books now.