These words about Jean Rhys and L. M. Montgomery also apply to Louisa M. Alcott:
“...were great readers and had access to a public library when young. As girls they read Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, which made a big impression on them and later influenced their writing.”
Unlike some of the other writers mentioned on here, Louisa M. Alcott was encouraged to read. As a girl, she 'lived in books'. Jane Eyre, which was first published in 1847 when she was 14 years old, was one of her favourite novels. She was inspired by the Brontë sisters' lives and achievements.
She wrote this in her journal just after reading Mrs Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë:
“Read Charlotte Brontë’s life. A very interesting, but sad one. So full of talent; and after working long, just as success, love, and happiness come, she dies. Wonder if I shall ever be famous for people to care to read my story and struggles. I can’t be a C.B., but I may do a little something yet.”
From the journal entry dated June, 1857
Louisa M. Alcott had access to private libraries as a girl. She may have made use of public libraries too: her father Bronson certainly did. I am not sure when her involvement with the Concord Free Public Library started, but she is mentioned in connection with book censorship early in 1885:
“As the home of Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts, the very name of Concord, Massachussetts, connotes sophisticated literary dissent. Yet a month after the publication of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the committee in charge of Concord's public library voted to remove the book from its shelves, fearing that Huck Finn's irreverence would undermine the morals of young readers. In full agreement, Louisa May Alcott proposed a more radical ban: “If Mr. Clemens cannot think of something better to tell our pure-minded lads and lasses,” she advised, “he had best stop writing for them.” “
The Concord Free Public Library, which was opened in 1873, now holds a large collection of Alcott family material. It also contains a bust of Louisa M. Alcott:
