Benefits of Childhood Immersion with Books

This study’s findings supports the contention of scholarly culture theory that immersing children in book-oriented environments benefits their later educational achievement, attainment and occupational standing. These findings have been interpreted as suggesting that book-oriented socialization, indicated by home library size, equips youth with life-long tastes, skills and knowledge. However, to date, this has not been directly assessed. Here, the researchers document advantageous effects of scholarly culture for adult literacy, adult numeracy, and adult technological problem solving. They find that growing up with home libraries boosts adult skills in these areas beyond the benefits accrued from parental education or own educational or occupational attainment.

Sikora, J., Evans, M. D. R., & Kelley, J. (2018). Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies. Social Science Research.

https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.10.003