State-by-state data released by the National Center for Education Studies (NCES) in November 2007 provides evidence of a strong, positive link between the amount of children's materials circulated by public libraries and fourth-grade reading scores on the same agency's National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Of states ranking in the top half on readings scores, more than four-fifths (82 percent) ranked in the top half on circulation of children's materials per capita. Conversely, four out of five states (83 percent) in the bottom half on reading scores also rank in the bottom half on children's circulation.
Of states ranking in the top half on reading scores, seven out of 10 (70 percent) ranked in the top half on attendance at children's programs per capita. By contrast, seven out of 10 states (71 percent) in the bottom half on reading scores also rank in the bottom half on children's program attendance.
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