Book deserts are defined as areas where reading materials are difficult to obtain. According Dr. Molly Ness, "The term was coined by Unite For Literacy, to call attention to structural inequalities that compromise children’s reading development. Researcher Susan Neuman points out that book deserts - for children growing up in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty - constrain their opportunity to come to school ready to learn."
On the map, a large swath of the St. Louis -East St. Louis region is represented in red, meaning 0 to 10 percent of homes have more than 100 books.