Reading, Learning, and Growing: An Examination of the Benefits of Common Book Programs for First-Year Students' Development

Despite the continued growth of common book reading programs on college and university campuses, little is known about the benefits of such programs on first-year students' development. Using a multi-institutional survey of undergraduates attending six large, public universities (n = 1,237), the present study examined relationships between first-year students' participation in common book reading programs and their self-reported development in academic skills and multicultural appreciation and competence. The results suggest that participation in such a program is significantly and positively associated with first-year students' self-reported development in academic skills and multicultural appreciation and competence, controlling for their participation in first-year seminar and learning communities, demographic characteristics, academic engagement, sense of belonging, faculty interactions, grade point average, and students' self-reported skills and competencies when they first arrived on campus.