Book desert

[3] In the past, researchers have studied how the absence or scarcity of books impact how a child's early literacy and language skills develop.

[7] In 2016, The Atlantic reported that in 2015, Neuman and JetBlue Airways held an experiment to foster literacy, by providing book vending machines in a low-income Washington D.C. neighborhood.

"[7] Multiple factors are credited as contributing to the formation of book deserts, the most frequently highlighted of which tends to be poverty and low income.

Other factors tend to include language and geography, as some areas lack access to bookstores or public or community school libraries that would provide books.

[10] To create the map, Unite for Literacy performed a statistical analyses of data from  National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, including the number of books in 4th graders' homes, average community income, ethnic diversity, geographic location and home language.