Books in the Home

166,000 individual Maine children have received books from Raising Readers for their home libraries in the last ten years. We all know intuitively that this is a positive thing for the children of the state, but a new national study confirms the positive link between books in the home and children that do well in school.

A University of Nevada, Reno study showed that children raised in a home where they were exposed to 500 books would go 3.2 years further in their education, on average. 500 books? Who has 500 books in their home?

The importance in not the number of books but that there is a relationship between school success and books in the home. By the time your Maine child reaches the age of five, she will have received up to twelve books from Raising Readers. How do you expose your child to more books beyond her home library? Use a Maine library.

If you took two picture books home from the public library each week started when your child is a toddler, think of how many books would pass through your home. Use that library card to turn your home into a learning rich place for your future student to grow up in!