More Books for American Families

Foreword

The character of life in the American Republic, our founders believed, is shaped considerably by the equality and quality of access to information and ideas. They believed self-government could endure on this continent only if the people—for whom, by whom, and of whom government was created—were literate, with ready access and frequent recourse to books and periodicals, and able to make up their own minds about matters large and small, public and private.

In America’s semiquincentennial year, it feels important to return to the question of literacy and access to books—not only for the current generation, but for our children. What our founders probably intuited but did not clearly know in the 18th century was the importance of human development in the earliest years of life. The habits of reading and book ownership are formed in that same early window, and those habits are essential to the ongoing development of a democratic culture and to the continuation of self-government by a free people.

Across the country, parents seem to know this instinctively and believe in the power of books. They sense that a child who grows up surrounded by stories — who can reach for a favorite on the shelf and turn its pages again and again — arrives at school and in life better prepared. Those children are also better prepared to take up the responsibilities of citizenship: to freely govern themselves, participate well in the life of their communities, and the country. That conviction is nearly universal. But the National Children’s Book Ownership Survey, an annual Book Harvest and Capita study conducted by YouGov, finds that belief in the power of books runs up against a stubborn reality: many American families still struggle to keep enough books in the home.

Every child deserves to discover the joy of reading with a home full of books, and that no parent should worry about falling short due to barriers beyond their control. 

Book Harvest and Capita launched this survey together because we share a conviction that every child deserves to discover the joy of reading with a home full of books, and that no parent should worry about falling short due to barriers beyond their control. 

At Capita, we believe the conditions that affect families are among the most important yet least examined issues in American public life. Our work is oriented towards a North Star: the predictability, stability, and quality of life for all families. We know that families’ volatile schedules, growing financial pressures, and strains on mental health are compounding right now, making it harder for parents to show up in all the ways they would like to for their children. Book ownership, especially whether children have books of their own, sits within that picture.

Part of what makes a good and flourishing life for families is not only about basic needs but also about whether they have access to culture, leisure, and experiences that help grow their children’s imaginations and expand their minds. Books are one of the most basic and durable ways to build that foundation. 

This national survey of 5,000 parents of children 12 and under asked families about the books in their homes: how many they have, how many belong to their children, when the first books arrived, where the books come from, and what stands in the way. What it reveals is a gap between what parents believe in and what they are able to provide, between those with the time and flexibility to read to their children daily and those where bedtime is never a guarantee, and between the families who can afford to build home libraries and those for whom even a single new book is a stretch.

One in four U.S. families has 10 or fewer children’s books at home.

The findings are clear and in some ways troubling. One in four U.S. families has 10 or fewer children’s books at home. This lands hardest on families of color and families with low incomes. Among Black and Hispanic families, roughly 40 percent have 10 or fewer children’s books, compared to just one in five white families. Nearly two-thirds of families earning under $30,000 a year say the cost of books is a barrier — and, strikingly, 41 percent of families earning $100,000 or more say the same. 

Book exposure and strong reading habits can build confidence, spark joy, creativity, and imagination, and help to build the earliest architecture of language and learning.

Parents understand what is at stake. In fact, 98 percent say that having books at home helps children succeed in school. Book exposure and strong reading habits can build confidence, spark joy, creativity, and imagination, and help to build the earliest architecture of language and learning. And yet,  families still report not having enough of the right books for their children’s ages and reading levels, as well as books that reflect their own culture and identity.

The research on books in the home is substantial. A landmark study of over 70,000 families across 27 countries found that children growing up in homes with books receive the equivalent of approximately three additional years of education, independent of their parents’ education, occupation, or social class. The greatest gains come from children’s earliest books, and the benefits are consistent across nations, economic systems, and time periods. A follow-up study of 160,000 adults across 31 countries found that adolescents who grew up with home libraries achieved higher levels of adult literacy, numeracy, and technological competence, with those from more modest educational backgrounds benefiting the most.

Book Harvest is part of a broad ecosystem of organizations and programs working to get books into children’s hands. What makes Book Harvest unusual is its focus on the home library itself, not just individual books delivered at individual moments, but a sustained, curated collection that a child can call their own.

Many families receive free books through schools, libraries, and programs that put books in children’s hands. These efforts certainly matter, but valuable as they are, they do not by themselves close the gap. 

Literacy has always been foundational not just to a child’s future, but to the health of civic life.

Book ownership, like so much else in family life, can be as much a question of time as money. A parent stretched thin by an unpredictable work schedule, or worn down by financial or emotional strain, has less room to read aloud to their children at bedtime, even when books sit on the shelf. Pressures that begin in one part of family life surface downstream in another, and can affect something as simple as whether a parent can read to their child tonight.

What is at stake extends beyond any individual child’s success. Literacy has always been foundational not just to a child’s future, but to the health of civic life. Closing the gap in children’s book ownership is an investment in the common good we all share. 

This brief is offered in the hope that its findings will inform the work of the many people and institutions, from the neighbor down the street to the governor’s office, who have a role in ensuring that every child grows up with everything they need to flourish — not only as individuals, but as members of an informed, engaged society that a healthy democracy requires.

Sincerely,

Joe Waters 
Co-Founder + CEO
Capita

Why Books Matter

The research tells us that books in the home are among the most powerful and most addressable predictors of a child’s educational success.

Books are essential to children’s growth, development, and learning — and yet many families have very few of them. That is a gap we can close. The research tells us that books in the home are among the most powerful and most addressable predictors of a child’s educational success. Our survey shows that American parents already know this, but they need more support. The same conditions necessary to support the stability, predictability, and quality of life for all families are also what make it possible for parents to build a home library and sit down together at bedtime with a book in hand. Closing this gap is not only good for children’s futures, but for the common good we all share.

Key Survey Results

Families understand the importance of having books in the home. They don’t need convincing.

The numbers leave little doubt: 98 percent of parents say that having books at home helps children succeed in school. Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) strongly agree, and almost all the rest (26 percent) somewhat agree. 

Most parents see book ownership itself as meaningful: 51 percent say it matters whether children own their own books rather than only borrow them. That belief holds across income levels — families earning under $30,000 a year feel just as strongly about ownership as families earning $100,000 or more.

Parents do not need to be persuaded that books matter. They need the books.

These findings confirm what Ginger Young of Book Harvest and others in the field have long argued: parents do not need to be persuaded that books matter. They need the books.

Many families have very few children’s books at home — and the gap is most pronounced for families of color and low-income families.

Most American families, in other words, have only modest children’s book collections at best.

One in four families has 10 or fewer children’s books at home — near the point of scarcity, with the possibility that a child may not have a single book suited to the stage they are in right now, based on their age and reading ability. Another 38 percent of families have between 11 and 49 books at home. Most American families, in other words, have only modest children’s book collections at best — a challenge to be addressed, even as we celebrate the reality that modest home libraries (25 books) confer strong benefits.

The disparities by race and income are among the most important findings in this survey: Among Black families, 43 percent have 10 or fewer children’s books. Among Hispanic families, it is 39 percent. Among white families, the rate is 21 percent. Black and Hispanic families are roughly twice as likely as white families to have almost no children’s books at all. 

The pattern also holds across income. Among families earning less than $30,000 a year, nearly half (46 percent) have 10 or fewer children’s books. Among families earning $100,000 or more, that figure is 19 percent. Even at the highest income levels, one in five families has a near-empty children’s bookshelf.

And the gap begins at birth. Nationally, 58 percent of children receive their first books in the first year of life. But among white children, the figure is 65 percent. Among Black children, it is 41 percent. Among Hispanic children, it is 43 percent. This 24-percentage-point gap between white and Black families in receiving books at birth means that for many children, the home library deficit is established before they can walk.

Having books and having the right books are not the same thing.

Three in four families (75 percent) say that all or most of their children’s books belong to them — books that are theirs to keep. But having books and having the right books are not the same thing. More than one in three families (38 percent) say that about half or fewer of their children’s books are well-suited to their children’s current ages and reading levels — a reminder that home libraries need to grow and change as children do.

Finding books that reflect a family’s culture, language, and identity also remains a real problem — reported by 34 percent of Hispanic families, 29 percent of Black families, and 19 percent of white families.

Cost is the leading barrier to book ownership — even for some affluent families.

More than anything else, cost determines how many children’s books a family can own. Nationally, just over half of parents (51 percent) say the cost of books is a barrier. The burden falls hardest on lower-income families: nearly two in three (65 percent) of those earning less than $30,000 a year say book costs are a barrier. But the problem reaches well up the income ladder: 61 percent of families earning $30,000 to $49,000, 54 percent of those earning $50,000 to $99,000, and a striking 41 percent of families earning $100,000 or more say that cost is a barrier.

Among racial groups, Hispanic families report the highest cost pressure: 60 percent say cost is a barrier, compared to 49 percent of white families and 46 percent of Black families.

Many families are already receiving help. Nearly six in ten (57 percent) say they have received free children’s books in the past six months — books their children now own. The most common sources are schools and preschools (cited by 46 percent of those receiving free books), followed by book-by-mail programs such as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (31 percent), public libraries (27 percent), community organizations and nonprofits (23 percent), churches and religious organizations (19 percent), and doctor’s offices and health clinics (17 percent).

Many parents struggle to read with their children as often as they would like — mainly because they are stretched thin.

Most parents read with their children regularly: 27 percent read aloud every day, another 17 percent five to six times a week, and 25 percent two to four times a week. About one in five parents (18 percent) reads with their children about once a week or a few times a month. Twelve percent rarely or never read aloud.

Here, too, the gaps by race and income are significant. Among white parents, 31 percent read daily; among Black parents, 19 percent; among Hispanic parents, 21 percent. Among families earning $100,000 or more, 32 percent read daily; among families earning under $30,000, 20 percent. These differences likely reflect the same pressures parents describe when asked what makes reading difficult.

For many, demanding work schedules make it hard to keep up with bedtime reading and other routines.

When reading falls away, the reasons are familiar: 39 percent point to work and other responsibilities, and 28 percent cite fatigue — being simply too tired at the end of the day. For many, demanding work schedules make it hard to keep up with bedtime reading and other routines.

When parents do read with their children, bedtime is overwhelmingly the occasion: 85 percent read at bedtime or before naps. Reading sessions are typically brief — 86 percent read between five and thirty minutes per sitting — but even short daily reading sessions, the research tells us, make a difference.

And children are responding: 79 percent of parents say their child has a favorite book they return to again and again. Eighty-five percent say their child looks at or reads books on their own at least sometimes. The foundation for a reading life is there. What many families need is more books to build on.

What Can We Do?

Parents are not a problem to be solved; they are the people to be supported.

Every finding in this brief points to a solvable problem: the distance between what parents believe about books and what they are able to provide is one we can close together. Parents are not a problem to be solved; they are the people to be supported. What follows, then, is not a list of duties for families already stretched thin. It is an invitation to everyone who surrounds them — the widening circles of neighbors, institutions, and public life that can make a home library ordinary rather than exceptional.

The Circle Closest to Home: Neighbors and Community

The people nearest to a family’s daily life are often best positioned to help. Gently used children’s books can be passed along to families and local nonprofits rather than boxed away or discarded. A Little Free Library on the street or in a park puts books at a child’s eye level in their neighborhood. Congregations, workplaces, sports teams, and neighborhood associations can run book drives that gather hundreds of titles in a weekend. With enrollment supported by and with local and state funding, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library delivers books to millions of family mailboxes around the world. And organizations like Book Harvest are always in need of volunteers to sort, pack, and deliver books to the homes where they will do the most good.

The Institutions Families Already Touch

The most effective programs meet families where they already are, through institutions they already trust, and do not ask more of them.

Families are already stretched thin. Children’s books should not require a special trip, an extra errand, or one more thing on an already overloaded list. The most effective programs meet families where they already are, through institutions they already trust, and do not ask more of them. Schools and preschools can send books home for children to keep, not just to borrow. Primary care providers — and the medical systems that employ them — can adopt the Reach Out and Read model, placing a new book in a child’s hands at every well-child visit and reaching children long before kindergarten. 

Birthing hospitals can act one step earlier. Our survey found that hospitals are among the least common sources of free books for families — just 7 percent — even though the disparity in book ownership begins at birth. Book Harvest’s Books from Birth program shows what filling that gap looks like: partnering with birthing hospitals in low-income communities, and with the philanthropists who invest in them, so that families leave the hospital with a starter home library of 10 books already in hand, making books at birth a new standard of care. And Book Harvest’s  Books from the Start initiative carries that beginning through the schoolhouse door, pairing Books from Birth with Books for K, in which every kindergartner chooses 10 books to keep forever as they begin their educational journey. 

Predictable work schedules could help reduce strain on parents and the unpredictability of family life, and could also create room for a bedtime routine that makes reading at home possible.

Public libraries can bring their collections to the neighborhoods with the fewest books, rather than waiting for families to find time to come to them. And employers have a real part to play, too. Work and exhaustion were the leading reasons parents in our survey could not read to their children as often as they wished. It was not a lack of desire, but a lack of time and energy left at the end of the day. Predictable work schedules could help reduce strain on parents and the unpredictability of family life, and could also create room for a bedtime routine that makes reading at home possible. 

The Commonwealth: Foundations and Public Life

Widen the circle once more, and the reach grows still further. Foundations can underwrite book ownership programs at scale and fund research — including surveys like this one — that show where books are missing and what actually closes the gap. State and local governments can accomplish a great deal for remarkably little. A growing number of states now match funding for statewide book-gifting programs. Books can be woven into the places families already find public support — from home visiting to WIC to well-child care. And steady funding for public libraries remains one of the most cost-effective ways to put books within every family’s reach.

Concentric circles hold only when each one does its part. A home library for every child is well within our reach if the neighbor, the clinic, the library, the employer, and the statehouse each take up the work nearest to them.

The Stakes

The common good takes a particular shape in a democracy. One of the key principles of democratic governance is that citizens are called to share in political decision-making, not just because this is likely to produce the best or least oppressive outcome, but also because political agency is a good that is meant to be shared by everyone. This is an integral part of a flourishing life in our kind of society. Political agency is thus both a good held in common and integral to the overall common good of a society.

The written word offers a distinct kind of immersion in information and ideas that remains essential to the work of democratic citizenship.

For that arrangement to produce good and effective governance, however, an educated citizenry is necessary. Early American settlers understood this well. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Puritan Massachusetts had one of the highest literacy rates in the world, far exceeding that of France or England. Even now, in this moment of growing orality, the written word offers a distinct kind of immersion in information and ideas that remains essential to the work of democratic citizenship.

Democracy rests not only on rights, popular sovereignty, and constitutional order, but on the literacy of its people: their capacity to read and write, to stay informed about the world and their own communities, and to engage in the disagreements democratic life requires. This has been true from the country’s earliest days, when revolutionary fervor spread through the letters of the Committees of Correspondence. Deep literacy — not simply the habit of reading and writing, but the informed, critical thinking shaped by those habits  — has been, and must remain, foundational to the exercise of shared political agency and the flourishing of democratic life.

Our task, then, is not only economic. Reading is a foundation for prosperity, yes, but the deeper task, clarified in this 250th year of American independence, is one of democratic renewal. It is rebuilding the shared capacities on which self-government depends, at a moment when trust in our institutions and our sense of shared agency are both under strain. 

What this brief lays out is not simply about parenting, literacy, or whether children have what they need to succeed in school and in life. It is about transmitting our experiment in self-government to the generations that follow — meeting the challenges our country faces, and meeting them well. Not only for today, but to secure the foundation on which our country, and the common life we share within it, will endure.

The conditions that make for a stable, predictable, flourishing family life are, in this sense, inseparable from the conditions that make for a literate, capable citizenry. These are not two separate projects, but rather, the same project seen at different distances.

Capita is an independent think tank and learning community that is building a future guided by the common good, where families and their communities can flourish. This brief was produced by Capita in partnership with Book Harvest, a national children’s literacy organization founded in Durham, North Carolina, that works to ensure every child has a home library. The National Children’s Book Ownership Survey is an annual Book Harvest and Capita study conducted by YouGov. For more information, visit capita.org and bookharvest.org.