“Going to the library gives people the same kick as getting a raise does — a £1,359 ($ 2,282) raise, to be exact — according to a study commissioned by the U.K.’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport. The study, which looks at the ways “cultural engagement” affects overall wellbeing, concluded that a significant association was found between frequent library use and reported wellbeing. The same was true of dancing, swimming and going to plays. The study notes that “causal direction needs to be considered further” — that is, it’s hard to tell whether happy people go to the library, or going to the library makes people happy. But either way, the immortal words of Arthur the Aardvark ring true: “Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card.”
The link to the article is as follows:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/24/306415439/book-news-study-says-library-trips-can-make-you-happy-as-a-pay-raise
Thanks for the news NPR! We knew there was something to this book thing all along. Now we have a study to back what our gut feeling was.
