Seeking Oasis in Book Deserts: Building Home Libraries to Create Equity in Book Ownership

Authors

  • Elizabeth McChesney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5860/cal.21.1.15

Abstract

Libraries have long promoted book giveaways to increase the love of reading and books. The educational benefits are well documented for increased print and book ownership access. Libraries also leverage programs such as 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and summer learning as popular programs to help families grow home libraries.

Despite these efforts, there are many socioeconomic disparities in which children in this country own books. Espinosa et al. found that children in the highest socioeconomic status have over five times the books in their homes as children in the lowest quartile. A study by van Bergen et al. found that the number of books in the home helps predict early reading abilities, yet these gaps in book ownership persist.

Author Biography

Elizabeth McChesney

Elizabeth McChesney is a career-long Children’s Librarian and Youth Services Administrator who serves as a consultant in youth services. She acts as Senior Advisor to several organizations including the National Summer Learning Association, Urban Libraries Council, and Laundry Literacy Coalition. A frequent speaker and writer, she is the author of several books for ALA Editions and is the 2021 recipient of the ALSC Distinguished Service Award.

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Published

2023-04-04

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 1 (2023): Spring

Section

Features

License

In the event that an author's work is accepted for publication in CAL, the author is required to sign a copyright agreement with ALA/ALSC. For more information and/or to download the copyright forms, visit the ALA Publishing Web site.

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