Kids! @ your library® Tool Kit
Facts You Can Use: Children, Reading & Libraries

• The amount of time children spend reading out of school is linked with gains in reading achievement.

  (Source: Anderson, Richard C., P.T. Wilson and L. G. Fielding. 1988. “Growth in Reading and How Children Spend Their Time Outside of School.” Reading Research Quarterly 23: 285-303)

• Numerous studies show that access to books and magazines is directly related to higher reading achievement.
  

  (Source:  Sheldrick Ross, Catherine, Lynne (E.F.) McKechnie and Paulette M. Rothbauer. 2006. Reading Matters: What the Research Reveals about Reading, Libraries, and Community, Libraries Unlimited)

• High-income children have more and better access to reading materials in both stores and libraries than do low-income children.
  

  (Source: Neuman, S. and D. Celano, 2001. “Access to print in low-income and middle-income communities, Reading Research Quarterly 36 (1): 8-26)

• As the only government-funded, educational, and social service freely available to children, local libraries play a very important role in supporting children in their development as readers.
  

  (Source: Armstrong, Chris, Debbie Denham, Judith Elkin, Margaret K. Evans, Roger Fenton, Peggy Heeks and Ray Lonsdale. 1997. “A Place for Children: The Qualitative Impact of Public Libraries on Children’s Reading. Interim Report.” The New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship 3: 93-103.)

• Students at schools with good school libraries have 10-18 percent better test scores than schools with lower rated libraries.  This holds true despite socio-economic differences.
  

  (Source: Libraries and Student Achievement: The importance of school libraries for improving student texts scores, Threshold: Winter 2004, Available at www.ciconline.org. Accessed May 1, 2006)

• Circulation of children’s materials at public libraries is 50 percent higher in school districts scoring in the top third of a standardized reading test than those scoring in the lowest third. Similar results were found for states with the highest and lowest reading scores.
  

  (Source: The Library Research Service, Fast Facts, Oct. 22, 1998, ED3/110.10/No. 153. Available at http://www.lrs.org/documents/fastfacts/153PLRDG.PDF. Accessed May 1, 2006)

• Most adults (83 percent) rate library services to children as “very important.”  This survey finding was reinforced by focus group participants who said that taking children to the library is part of being a good and conscientious parent.
  

  (Source: The Benton Foundation, 1998, The Future’s in the Balance: A Toolkit for Libraries and Communities in the Digital Age: 15, www.benton.org/publibrary/future-balance/toolkit.pdf. Accessed May 1, 2006)

• More than any other public institution, including schools, the public library contributes to the intellectual growth of children during the summer.
  

  (Source: Heyns, Barbara. 1978. “Summer Learning and the Effects of Schooling.” Academic Press.  Available at http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/ld/youth/case.htm.  Accessed May 1, 2006.)

• Children who attend library summer reading programs read significantly better than children who attend a camp program. 
  

  (Source: Celano, Donna and Susan B. Neuman. The Role of Public Libraries in Children's Literacy Development: An Evaluation Report. [Pdf file] Pennsylvania Library Association, 2001. Available at www.statelibrary.state.pa.us/libraries/lib/libraries/Role%20of%20Libraries.pdf. Accessed May 1, 2006.)

• Children’s attitudes toward reading get more negative as they grow older.  Negative attitudes are associated with lesser ability.  Girls have more favorable attitudes than boys.
  

  (Source: McKenna, Michael C., Dennis J. Kear and Randolph A. Ellsworth. 1995. “Children’s Attitudes Toward Reading: A National Survey.” Reading Research Quarterly 30, no. 4:934-56)

• Young people ages 8-18 spend an average of 6.5 hours per day using various media.  While time spent with computers and video games increased significantly since 1999, the amount of time spent on reading remained steady at about 43 minutes per day.   Three-fourths of the children ages 8-18 say they read daily for pleasure.
  

  (Source: Rideout, Victoria, Donald F. Roberts and Ulla G. Foehr. 2005. Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds, Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Available at www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia030905pkg.cfm. Accessed May 1, 2006.)

• Circulation of children's materials in U.S. public libraries
  2004 - 708,287,000
  2003 - 699,947,000
  2002 - 682,859,000
  2001 - 653,938,000
  2000 - 624,688,000
  1999 - 612,410,000
  1994 - 491,775,000
  
  Attendance in children's programs in U.S. public libraries
  2004 - 54,590,000
  2003 - 53,261,000
  2002 - 52,143,000
  2001 - 51,800,000
  2000 - 49,290,000
  1999 - 47,702,000
  1994 - 38,399,000
  

  (Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) http://nces.ed.gov/)

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