I never had much of a home library my formative years (would estimate < 50, maybe < 30), but I always had such easy access to public libraries (in my schools, a

I never had much of a home library my formative years (would estimate < 50, maybe < 30), but I always had such easy access to public libraries (in my schools, and more importantly one within walking distance in my town) that I still easily consumed 1-3 new books a week for most of my childhood and teenage years. While 500 books in a home library is impressive, I almost think that would have been more constrictive to my learning options compared to the selections available from a public library system. One thing I noticed, and a reason that I depended on my local public library so much more than the school ones, is that the selection for libraries in schools before high school is way too age restricted. I once tried to donate a few of my favorite paperbacks (Stephen King novels) for future students, but the librarian told me the school system would just end up transferring those to a high school library. Anyhow, my point is, I would be interested to know if living within walking distance of a public library is similarly correlated with better outcomes.