I remember watching it, but I don't remember if I liked it or not. I'm glad you liked it, though. It had good intentions, but I'm not sure if it accomplished what it set out to accomplish.
It seemed to be encouraging kids to read by saying "If you're fearful, reading classic literature will make you fearless!" That's a gross exaggeration of the power of words. I'm sure any kid who took the movie's advice quickly rejected that advice when they found out reading classic literature didn't make their fears disappear. Richard didn't need a library card. What Richard really needed was a qualified psychiatrist/psychologist, or for his parents to spend some more quality time with him.
Also, the movie begins in live-action, shifts to animation in the second-act (hand-drawn 2D traditional animation clearly distinguishable from reality), and then ends in a live-action. While this was done was to distinguish using your animation from reality, I think it unintentionally portrayed reading and using your imagination as a second-class experience (unless you're one of those Disney fans who sincerely believes 2D traditional animation is always more visually appealing than photographic reality), when compared to having a real adventure, and discouraged reading instead of encouraging it. If the movie had been completely animated, or if it had started in animation, shifted to live-action for the segments where he's in the world of the books, and then gone back to animation, it might have worked in that regard. The PageMaster essentially aped the strategy of the Reading Rainbow introductory sequence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ygs3IHJ2bM
Here's a 100% animated introductory sequence for the Goodtimes Children's Classics video series, which tries to make reading look like riding a roller coaster:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2FGTvGvWnE
Studies have found that the 1986 movie Top Gun increased naval recruiting by about 8%.
https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/maverick-top-gun-stat-turns-out-to-be-a-real-goose/
But no studies have been done on whether The PageMaster increased library visits or acquisition of library cards.
I'm glad this movie made a positive impact on you, but you may have been the only person it made a positive impact on.
