LETTER: Brought to book
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Commenting on the low quality of libraries in schools, David Bell stated that "children need books to read" and "the school library is often a primary source of reading material ...".
Not mentioned in The Independent's report is the fact that Mr Bell's opinion is backed up by a great deal of research. Studies done over many years both in the UK and the USA have consistently shown that children get a surprising percentage of their books from libraries. More recent research has found a consistent and positive relationship between school library quality and the amount children read and how well they read.
Quality school libraries are especially important for children of poverty. Studies show that children of low-income families tend to live in neighbourhoods with inferior public libraries and few bookstores, and have few books in their homes. The first step in improving levels of literacy for these children is to improve school libraries.
Professor STEPHEN KRASHEN
Malibu, California, USA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments