Argh, again. I meant WANTING books not getting books. The want slots. :

Oh yeah. That makes sense. It always annoys me when my sims constantly want things I either can't or won't give them. But from a realistic standpoint, an illiterate sim can of course still want to learn, and many would logically wish for literacy and education. Perhaps you could come up with some sort of system whereby an illiterate sim could eventually achieve literacy. Could be based on their gaining a certain amount of logic/creativity skill, perhaps? Some illiterate people have in fact taught themselves to read by basically "decoding" books. Others, when denied access to all written material, have actually invented their own alphabet and writing system. So your serfs might have more options and opportunities than they think they do, depending on how much time and energy they have to devote to such things.

This would also be a motivation to try to get into situations in which literacy could be learned. A peasant might enter the novitiate at a monastery, for instance, hoping to learn and have access to books.

Yes, I don't mind when my sims want things I'm unwilling to give them. It signifies to me that they have unfulfilled desires. That's okay - a sim rolling a lot of wants for large items when he lives in a dorm or apartment might be telling me that he wants to move somewhere he can customise, and get a better paying job to support all of this. If it's not possible at the moment, well, tough - unless I'm feeling creative Often, by the time I've started on a longer term plan, they have changed their mind.

Apart from changing a peasants hobby, if i wanted him to keep film and literature then I would make him a story teller passing down oral traditions and stories. Hang out, dragon legend, tell story about. It wouldn't bother me if this gained them enthusiasm points or not, if this is what I wanted for the hobby I would simply add them myself over time. Like you my peasants do not have access to books.

That's actually a genius approach your taking. I never though of taking this unfullfillable Wants as metaphors/assiosations for other things. This would come in handy