The importance of access to books
Sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 3, 2012
According to the Chronicle, Ze’ev Wurman thinks that “access to books is not a problem” because of one finding in one report produced by the US Government (“Fewer California schools have trained librarians,” Jan 2, 2012). This is like dismissing global warming because yesterday was cold. And it is counter to the results of a multitude of studies.
Numerous scientific studies published in professional journals have confirmed that children of poverty have little access to reading material: They have fewer books in the home, live in neighborhoods with inferior public libraries and fewer bookstores, and attend schools with inferior classroom and school libraries.
Studies also show that increasing access to books increases the amount of reading they do, and increased
According to the Chronicle, Ze’ev Wurman thinks that “access to books is not a problem” because of one finding in one report produced by the US Government (“Fewer California schools have trained librarians,” Jan 2, 2012). This is like dismissing global warming because yesterday was cold. And it is counter to the results of a multitude of studies.
Numerous scientific studies published in professional journals have confirmed that children of poverty have little access to reading material: They have fewer books in the home, live in neighborhoods with inferior public libraries and fewer bookstores, and attend schools with inferior classroom and school libraries.
Studies also show that increasing access to books increases the amount of reading they do, and increased
